HY YOU SHOULD

BE A CATHOLIC

*1 >: V i

by R.A.Short





10 ood

WHY YOU SHOULD

BE A CATHOLIC

by

R. A. SHORT

Bellarmine Publishing Company

P. O. Box 295

Mound, Minnesota

SECOND EDITION

Copyright 1953

All rights reserved. This booklet may not be reproduced by any

means in whole or in part without the permission of the publisher.



DEDICATED TO ALL

INTELLIGENT AND

HONEST PEOPLE

NIHIL OBSTAT

R. G. Bandas

Censor Librorum

IMPRIMATUR

© John Gregory Murray
Archbishop of St. Paul

October 10, 1952

OMCfcBfiec*



CONTENTS

PAGE

1

History Proves That Only the Catholic Church

Was Founded By Christ 5

II Catholic Church Only Church to Fulfill

Primary Christian Objective 10

III Christian Traditions Preserved Only In

Catholic Church 14

IV The Perfect and Constant Unity Christ Promised

His Church Found Only In the Catholic Church . 18

V Catholic Church Can Prove That Peter Was the

First Pope 22

VI The Bible Is A Catholic Publication .... 25
VII Catholic Church Has Proper Attitude Toward

Christ's Mother 28

VIII Catholic Church Is Modern Civilization’s

Greatest Benefactor 30

IX Supernatural Character of the Catholic Church

Proved By Her Miracles 34

X Catholic Church Gives Her Faithful

Incomparable Peace Of Soul 37

Answers to a Few Questions . 40





I

HISTORY PROVES THAT ONLY

THE CATHOLIC CHURCH WAS

FOUNDED BY CHRIST

B y the most overwhelming and conclusive array of evidence the
world has ever seen Jesus Christ proved that He was the promised

Messiah of the Jews, the Redeemer of the world. That is, He proved

He was God. He proved it by fulfilling to the letter the prophecies

of Scripture concerning the time and the place and the miraculous

birth of the Messiah that was to come. He proved it by His impeccable

holiness and the flawless perfection of His maxims. And He proved

it beyond the last vestige of doubt by the miracles He performed,

great and awesome miracles so far removed from the natural order

they could not possibly be other than manifestations of the power

and glory of Almighty God.

Hence the reality of Christ’s Divinity is the first and primary

reality of Christianity.

The second reality of Christianity, one which proceeds from the

first, which is inextricably bound up with it, is the reality of Christ’s

Church. In order that His holy ministry of salvation would be per-

petuated after His sacrifice of propitiation on the cross, Christ founded

a Church, a vital, living Church projected into the entire remaining

lifetime of the world— a Church invincible, a Church divine.
"... I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH

,
AND THE

GATES OF HELL SHALL NOT PREVAIL AGAINST
ITT Matthew 16:18

Yes, the existence of a divinely constituted Christian Church is

just too obvious to be disputed. It is a truth affirmed by the Apostles

m



and fully substantiated in history. Even the educated pagans and

Jews, while they may not believe in its precepts, readily admit that

Christ founded a Church.

Yet, strangely, it is here that we run smack into one of Chris-

tianity’s biggest enigmas. In these modern times there are approxi-

mately four hundred individual Christian church bodies, each one

teaching a different doctrine, each one claiming to be the true Church

of Christ. To be sure, none of them could hope to attract members

unless they did claim divine sanction. And to further confuse the

situation, more and more “divine” Christian churches and doctrinal

variations are springing into existence as the years go by.

Recalling that Christ founded only one Church and taught only

one doctrine, not a multiplicity of churches and doctrines, the utter

absurdity of hundreds of true Christian churches becomes very appar-

ent. Moreover, both the Sacred Scriptures * and our common sense

tells us that God, He who is Truth one and indivisible, would never

approve of divisions and conflicting doctrines in the household of

the faithful. It just naturally follows, therefore, that somewhere in

this great assortment of so-called Christian churches there is one which

really is the true Church of Christ— that is, there is if Christ wasn’t
kidding when He promised to preserve the Church He founded. But

which one?

An enigma, yes, but fortunately not an unsolvable one when

we have the courage to face up to certain facts. The fact of history,

for example. A scholarly perusal of history reveals that in the world

today there is one Christian Church, and only one, that can trace its

history all the way back to the day Christ founded His Church, that

can furnish positive historical proof that it has enjoyed a continual,

uninterrupted existence from that day till now. That church is the

Catholic Church, the church sometimes referred to as the “Roman”

Catholic Church, the same church called Catholic by the Apostles

and the primitive Christian Fathers:

“I believe in the Holy Catholic Church. . .” The Apostles’

Creed, composed by the Apostles in 67 A. D. “Polycarp, the

Catholic Bishop of Smyrna.” Signature on the letters of Bishop

Polycarp, ordained in the priesthood by the Apostle John about

* Eph. 4:4-5.



the year 88 A. D. “Where the Bishop is there let the multitude

of believers be; even as where Jesus is, there is the Catholic

Church.” Ignatius of Antioch in a letter to the Christians of

Smyrna in 110 A. D. “I believe in one, holy, catholic and

apostolic Church. . Nicene Creed, composed by the Church

Fathers at the Council of Nicaea in 325 A. D.

Note the reference to “one” Catholic Church in the Nicene Creed.

There are some other old Christian churches, true, but none that

go all the way back to Christ like the Catholic Church. The Nestorians,

Predestinarians and Monophysites (Copts), the next oldest in existence

today, cannot trace their history past the fifth century A. D. The

Greek Orthodox and Waldensian Churches cannot trace their history

past the ninth century A. D. And there is not a single Protestant

denomination that can point to the pages of authentic and unabridged

history and show where it was in existence prior to the sixteenth

century A. D. Verification of the dates the above churches sprang into

existence and the names of the men and women who founded them

can be obtained at any first rate public library.

The Catholic Church, by virtue of her singular antiquity, therefore,

must of necessity be the original Christian Church, the only church

personally founded by Jesus Christ Himself.

How can we account, then, for the claims of a number of other
denominations that they too can trace their origin back to primitive

Christianity? Such claims cannot be accounted for; not without ignoring

the clear testimony of history and sullying our reason. Some denomina-

tions, for instance, advance the argument that when their founding

fathers departed from the historic Catholic Church they took a share

in the apostolic inheritance of the Catholic Church with them. That

they, with a great deal of acrimony, renounced the authority of the his-

toric Catholic Church and severed all relations with her matters not; the

important thing is that they were once in communion with her and that

makes them her lawful heirs. Not a very realistic argument would you

say? How can one be an heir to that which he has renounced? Another
point which somehow evades their thinking is that their organization,

their form of government and many of their articles of faith, in short,

everything that identifies them as an individual denomination, has never

existed within the framework of the Catholic Church. To claim that



they can trace the origin of their denomination back to the beginning of

Christianity via the Catholic Church is, therefore, utterly absurd.

Other denominations, those formed since the Reformation period,

defend their claim to being the direct descendants of the primitive

Christians by asserting that they have “recaptured” the primitive Chris-

tian faith. Like the first Christians, they tell us, they are “Bible Christians”

who obtain their rules of faith, not from any ecclesiastical authority but

from the Word of God as contained in the Sacred Scriptures. But here

again the argument is inconsistent with the facts. For the primitive

Christians had no Sacred Scriptures. The jew extant copies of the Old

Testament were in the hands of the Jews and scholars and the New
Testament was not yet compiled. The Bible, as Christians know it today,

did not make its appearance until late in the fourth century; but even if

it had appeared earlier and through some miracle made available to every-

one (Remember, there were no printing presses in those days), the

masses were not literate enough to read it. So you see, there could have

been only one prime source of Christian knowledge during primitive

Christianity: the teaching Church— the Church called Catholic. And
the Catholic Church, then as now, was administered by bishops, that is

to say, ecclesiastical authority. Any similarity, therefore, between the

“Bible Christians” of today and the first Christians is purely coincidental.

Yes, many and sundry religious denominations will tell you that

they were founded by God; but remember this: the pages of history do

not lie. The most reputable historical reference libraries recount that

the founder of the Greek Orthodox Church was Michael Cerularius,

Patriarch of Constantinople, a human being. They, likewise, give the

details of the origin of the Protestant denominations, pointing out

Martin Luther, a human being, as founder of the Lutheran denomina-

tion; John Knox, a human being, as founder of the Presbyterian de-

nomination; King Henry VIII, a human being, as founder of the Episco-

pal denomination; John Smith, a human being, as founder of the Bap-

tist denomination; John Wesley, a human being, as founder of the

Methodist denomination; and so forth. Nor can it, in all Christian

sincerity, be said that these men were inspired by God to establish their

respective denominations, because God is an advocate of unity and har-

mony, not vicious rivalries.

Think! Any Tom, Dick or Harry can found a church and call

it a Christian Church. You could do it ... I could do it. All we would



need to “qualify” us is a new slant on the Gospels, an overinflated

ego to give us “inspiration” and some glib oratory. A following would
be virtually assured because there are a great number of people in the

world gullible enough and mentally unstable enough to believe anything

if it is garnished in sweet talk and extravagant promises. But it stands

to reason that at best our new found religion would never be more

than a human religion. It stands to reason that only God can found

a divine religion, a Church endowed with His Authority and His guid-

ing Spirit.

[ 9 ]



II

CATHOLIC CHURCH ONLY

CHURCH TO FULFILL PRIMARY

CHRISTIAN OBJECTIVE

for three years Christ schooled the Apostles in the tenets of His Holy
Faith; for three years He showed them by His own perfect example

of humility, love and compassion the way to true Christian piety. Not

a very long time according to ordinary school standards, to be sure;

but then Christ was no ordinary tutor— He was the Son of God and
He taught with the power of the Holy Spirit.

Three years of schooling, then came the “graduation ceremony.”

After resurrecting Himself from the tomb, the miracle that was to

seal His divinity in the eyes of all the world, the Master summoned

His proteges to a mountain in Galilee where He very solemnly

announced to them the objective for which they had been chosen and

so carefully trained:

“ALL POWER IN HEAVEN AND ON EARTH HAS
BEEN GIVEN TO ME. GO, THEREFORE, AND MAKE
DISCIPLES OF ALL NATIONS, BAPTIZING THEM IN
THE NAME OF THE FATHER, AND OF THE SON,
AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, TEACHING THEM TO
OBSERVE ALL THAT I HAVE COMMANDED YOU;
AND BEHOLD, 1 AM WITH YOU ALL DAYS, EVEN
UNTO THE CONSUMMATION OF THE WORLDA

Matthew 28:18-20

What tremendous import these words contained. Here, in sum-

mary, was revealed the purpose, the whole objective, of His Church:

to convert all nations to Him— to the Triune God— through baptism,

HO]



through obedience to all His commandments and through the sacra-

mental life He prescribed for imparting sanctifying grace to the soul.

Here was the divine mandate of the Christian Church. For that is

what the Apostles were: the ‘first administrative body of the Christian

Church. When Christ issued directives to the Apostles, He was issuing

them, not to a small group of mortal men who would soon be gone

from the world, but to the divine Church which they represented,

the Church that would never be gone from the world. In this all

Christian denominations agree.

Now, why do we bring up something that is already generally

understood? Simply this: that if Christ issued a mandate to what

was unquestionably His one and only duly authorized Church, it

would naturally follow that before any of today’s churches can claim

legitimate authority to teach in His Name and administer His lawful

sacraments, they should be able to show evidence that they have com-

plied with that mandate. Christ certainly would not, could not, sanction

a church which has failed to accomplish the very purpose for which the

Christian Church was conceived. Accordingly, the church, or churches,

that have complied with Christ’s great mandate can be regarded as

heirs to the Apostolic authority; and those that have not complied

are to be regarded as pretenders, devoid of authority and therefore

unqualified to lead us in the way of salvation. Simple logic, born of

faith in the divine sincerity of Christ, leaves us no other alternative.

The all important question, therefore, is: Where in the world

today is that Church which can furnish this proof of its divine heritage?

Without taking the interminable time to go calling on all the

churches here and abroad, let us spend a few hours in a well-stocked

library and there examine the records of all the Christian denomina-

tions. By studiously comparing their respective records with the text

of Christ’s directive we will obtain our answer quickly— accurately;
and we will be spared a lot of unobjective sentimentality.

Ah, the records of Christian achievement are so complete and

well ordered in history they leave no room at all for doubt. Behold,

all of the Christian nations of the world
,
plus all nations that were

at one time Christian but have since apostatized* were originally

Christianized by the Roman Catholic Church and her alone. Behold,

*
Egypt, Turkey, etc.

cm



all nationi converted to Christ by the Roman Catholic Church were

converted by "teaching ” by appealing to the individual citizen s own

intellect and conscience, never by a proclamation of state law imposed

on the people without their approval and consent, the method used

by those who later substituted new state religions *

How clear the apostolic heritage of the Catholic Church is in
the archives of Christian evangelism. After the labors of the Apostles

in the North Africa and Mediterranean areas, the Faith of Christ was

extended to the British Isles by her Sts. Augustine and Patrick, to

Scandinavia by her Sts. Anschar and Olaf, to Germany by her Sts.

Willibrord and Boniface, to the Slavs by her St. Methodius, to South

America by her St. Francis Solano and Father Anchieta, to Asia by

her St. Francis Xavier and Friar Gutierrez, and so forth. But what

is especially noteworthy: every single one of these great emissaries of

Christ were sent forth from the See of Rome and labored under the

patronage of the Bishop of Rome, the Pope.

Yes, dear reader, the papacy which some Christians hate so bitterly,

which they malign and denounce so vehemently, is the same papacy,

the very same, which made it possible for them to be Christians. For

had the popes of the Catholic Church not been so concerned for the

spiritual regeneration of their ancestors, it is certain that the great

majority of them would still be groveling in paganism. How is that
for irony, for ingratitude and sheer unreasonableness?

“What about Russia and the U. S. A.?” you may ask. “Can the

Catholic Church claim these nations among her converts to Chris-

tianity also?” Well, let us see: History relates that the first Christian

missionaries to Russia were Greeks despatched from Constantinople by

the Patriarch, Photius, in either 866 or 867 A.D., during his 863-869

schism from papal authority. But it also relates that those missionaries

did not actually begin winning converts until after Photius and the

Greek Church were reunited with Rome; and the- Christian Faith

was spread and firmly established throughout Russia long before the

next schism (the current one) of the Greek Church from papal author-

ity in 1054 A.D. That the Russian Church was in communion with

Rome during its infancy is evidenced by its liturgical books which,

even to the present day, address Pope Martin thus: “Thou didst adorn

the divine throne of Peter, and, holding the Church upright on this

* England and the Scandinavian countries.

C12]



rock which cannot be shaken, thou didst honour thy name,” and

Pope Leo III: “O chief shepherd of the Church, thou do represent

the place of Jesus Christ.” There can be no question, therefore, that

it was the Roman Catholic Church which brought Christianity to

Russia, not the Greek Orthodox Church as many people suppose.

The U. S. A. was Christianized by immigration, not by evange-

lization. But the Indians, the only real natives of this country, were

introduced to Christianity by Catholic missionary priests who arrived

on these shores long before the representatives of any other Christian

religion; thus accounting for the fact that now the vast majority of

American Indians are Catholic. If you would question or underrate

the accomplishments of the Catholic missionaries in North America

during and before colonial times, you are invited to obtain a good

biographical history of early America and read the exploits of the

priests Marquette and Jogues of the North, De Smet of the Rocky

Mountain area, Gallitzin of Pennsylvania, Mazzuchelli and Loras of

the plains, Flaget of Kentucky, Las Casas and Joliet of the deep South

and Serra of the West Coast, to mention only a few. It is indeed no

coincidence that this nation’s oldest cities have Catholic names, e.g.,

St. Augustine, St. Louis, St. Paul, St. Joseph, New Orleans, San Diego,

Los Angeles, San Francisco, etc., and that the State of Maryland,

site of one of the oldest American settlements, was named after the

Blessed Mother of Christ. True, collective Protestantism enjoys a

numerical superiority in the U. S. A. at the present time; but for this

no credit is due its missionaries. All credit must go to the colonizing

ambitions of the British politic and to an unusually great influx of

Protestant immigrants from Scandinavia and the Netherlands.*

Thus, looking back over the years since the advent of Christianity,

we see that, invariably when pagan nations are converted to Christ,

it is the great Mother Church, not the Methodists or the Baptists or

the Episcopalians or the Lutherans, who is the apostle and the teacher;

it is the Catholic Church who alone of all churches has faithfully

complied with the divine mandate to “Baptize and teach and make

disciples of all nations,” thereby proving that she alone is the Church

to which the mandate and all the authority that goes with it belongs.

* A study of the religious histories of Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the Union
of South Africa reveals that the same is also true of those countries.

C13]



Ill

CHRISTIAN TRADITIONS

PRESERVED ONLY IN

CATHOLIC CHURCH

1 he Apostles received their tenets of faith and expressions of divine
worship direct from Christ, and the Church Fathers received theirs

firsthand from the Apostles. It will be conceded, therefore, that the

faith and mode of worship believed in and practiced by those members

of the infant Christian Church was the pure Christian religion, the

divine precedent to be adopted by all future generations of the faithful.

The Apostle Paul called this precedent of true Christian belief and

practice the Christian “traditions”:

“Stand firm, and hold the traditions you have learned,

whether by word or letter of ours.” 2 Thes. 2:15. “And we

charge you, brethren, in the name of Our Lord Jesus Christ,

to withdraw from every brother who lives irregularly, and

not according to the traditions received from us.” 2 Thes. 3:6.

Now precisely what are the traditions of which Paul writes? What,
in summary, did the Apostles and Church Fathers believe and how

were their beliefs expressed? Providentially we know the answers to

these extremely important questions. We know from the preserved
writings of the Church Fathers and primitive Christian historians that

the first Christians (1) worshipped at mass, (2) believed in the Real

Presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist (the consecrated bread of

the altar), (3) believed in the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, (4) believed

in seven sacraments, viz. Baptism, Confirmation, Penance, Holy Com-

munion, Matrimony, Holy Orders and Extreme Unction (the anoint-

ing of the sick and dying), (5) offered devotion to Christ’s Mother

C 143



Mary, (6) held that Mary’s virginity was inviolate, (7) held that the

Church, not the books of scripture, is the pillar and mainstay of truth,*

(8) held that the Church is the only authorized and competent inter-

preter of the scriptures, (9) recognized the Bishop of Rome (pope)

as Peter’s successor and head of the Church, (10) venerated the saints.

There they are, a summary of the principal traditions of the

Christian Church, the cardinal tenets of Christian belief as espoused

by those greatest of authorities, the Holy Apostles and the Church

Fathers.

Now some real food for serious thinking is the fact that all of
these traditions are preserved in only one church on the face of the

earth— the Catholic Church. And, incidentally, this is not a state-
ment that originates with the author, but belongs to the Church Fathers

themselves, plus a great many other eminent Christian ecclesiastics

and scholars of bygone centuries.

Hear the voice of the Fathers:

IRENAEUS (Second Century)
—

“The Catholic Church, hav-

ing received the apostolic teaching and faith, though spread

over the whole world, guards it seduously, as though dwelling

in one house; and these truths she uniformly teaches, as

having but one soul and one heart; these truths she proclaims,

teaches and hands down as though she had but one mouth.”

Adv. Haer., 1., x., 2; IV., xxxiii., 7.

LACTANTIUS (Fourth Century)— “The Catholic Church,
therefore, is the only one that retains the true worship. This

is the source of truth; this the dwelling place of faith; this

the temple of God.” Divine Institutions
,
Boo\ 4, Chap. 30.

ANTHANASIUS (Fourth Century) — “But it will hardly be
out of place to investigate likewise the ancient traditions, and

the doctrines and faith of the Catholic Church, which the

Lord communicated, the Apostles proclaimed, and the Fathers

preserved; for on this has the Church been founded.” First

Letter to Serapion, n. 28.

AUGUSTINE (Fifth Century)— “These ties (traditions) of
the Christian name, therefore, so numerous, so powerful, and

most dear, justly keep a believing man in the Catholic Church.”

* 1 Tim. 3:15

[HU



“But didn’t the Catholic Church corrupt the original deposit of

Christian Faith during the Middle Ages and subsequent centuries

by teaching new, unchristian doctrines?” Positively not. That is what

the Church’s adversaries would have you believe but it is an accusa-

tion without any basis in fact whatsoever. Such a thing would be

contrary and thoroughly inimical to everything the Church stands

for. In her lifetime she has, as a result of extensive research, expanded

and elaborated upon several traditional Christian beliefs, making them

more intelligible and meaningful, but never has she invented new ones.

When a Catholic priest is ordained he takes a solemn oath to

promulgate no doctrine that was not promulgated by Jesus Christ.

This accusation undoubtedly stems from the Church’s ex cathedra

pronouncements in the past few centuries on Papal Infallibility, the

Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the Assump-

tion of Mary into heaven. But how anyone who has familiarized

himself with the beliefs and practices of primitive Christians can call

these new beliefs is hard to imagine— unless they just want a bone
to pick with the Catholic Church. Far from being modern innovations,

these articles of faith have been held by the main body of Christians

since the very dawn of Christianity. The Church merely waited until

she was absolutely convinced of their essential Christian character

before giving them the status of a dogma; meaning that they shall

thereafter be universally regarded as divinely revealed truth and there-

fore indispensable tenets of Catholic faith. It is just a necessary, and

surely understandable, precaution the Church takes to insure the purity

of Christian orthodoxy.

The same course was followed when the Church decreed that

Sunday, the day of Our Lord’s Ascension, was to replace the Sabbath

as the Holy Day of the week, and when the Church established the

Advent, Christmas and Easter devotions. Really, if the Church’s critics

have so little faith in her wisdom and authority, should they not be

consistent and reject these practices also?

But it would be rash, indeed, for sincere Christians to reject

the beautiful Advent, Christmas and Easter traditions. And if every

sincere Christian looked deep enough into the source of all the other

Catholic traditions they would realize that it would be rash to reject

them too. Because the Catholic Church, more than any other human

agency, is eminently qualified to distinguish what is authentically

L 16 J



Christian from what is not Christian. She is the Church to which

Christian tradition was bequeathed in the first place, the only Church

where Christian tradition had a chance to survive because for many

centuries she was the only Christian church in existence .

We say, therefore, that if you are the kind of person who wants
Christianity in all of its beautiful, original fullness; if you want a faith

whose revealed truth you can trust— here it is.

Cl 7]



IV

THE PERFECT AND CONSTANT UNITY

CHRIST PROMISED HIS CHURCH FOUND

ONLY IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

jAl careful, sober analysis of the New Testament writings as they

relate to the formation of Christ’s Church reveals that Our Lord was

particularly emphatic on one point: His Church, put on earth to

represent the eternal unity of the Divine Trinity, would also be

characterized by a perfect and constant unity; would, in fact, be a

part of the divine unity. Witness Christ’s poignant prayer to the

Heavenly Father on this subject:

“AND THE GLORY THAT THOU HAS GIVEN ME,
I HAVE GIVEN TO THEM (His followers), THAT THEY
MAY BE ONE, EVEN AS WE ARE ONE, I IN THEM
AND THOU IN ME; THAT THEY MAY BE PER-
FECTED IN UNITY." John 17:22-23

Nor was Christ any less explicit when He declared, “There shall

be ONE fold and ONE shepherd.” John 10:16. The Apostle Paul did
not mince any words either when, writing to his disciples, he told

them, “You were called in ONE body.” Col. 3:15. “ONE body . . .
ONE spirit . . . ONE hope . . . ONE Lord . . . ONE faith . . . ONE
Baptism.” Eph. 4:4-5.

Thus it is plain to see that unity was intended by Christ to be

one of the most outstanding marks of His Church; just as it is plain

to see that in the history of Christianity there is only one church

with a record of long lived and perfect unity: the Church called

Catholic.

C 18 ]



Not only during the lifetime of Christianity but never in all the

annals of the human race has there existed such magnificent concord

and singleness of purpose. Never has a human society, whether religious,

political or fraternal, remained solidly intact as a single body, holding

to a single rule of conduct, under a single administrative authority,

as long as the Catholic Church. Check on this, you scholars, and see

for yourselves if this is not the case.

Granted, there have been differences of opinion within the Church

from time to time, some of them very sharp differences; but never

has the Church, through her Councils and Papal Decrees, failed to

resolve those differences when they posed even the slightest threat

to her doctrinal or organizational unity. And there have been schisms

and apostacies, groups which, for one reason or another, rebelled

against papal authority and formed their own separate governments;

but never has there occurred a division of authority within the Church.

For understand, unity of faith and organization and authority, under

the Bishop of Rome, the Pope, is more than just an ideal: it is essen-

tial to her very existence— it is the epidermis of the Church’s whole
organic structure without which she would instantly lose her identity

as the one ancient and true Catholic Church. Nor is that so difficult to

understand; especially in the light of what Christ said: “If a Kingdom

is divided against itself, that Kingdom cannot stand. And if a house

is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.” Mar\ 3:24-25.

Catholic unity has long been recognized as one of the great para-

doxes, and perhaps the greatest miracle, of Christianity. A paradox
because it seems to defy the natural bent of humans to shift with

the changing moods of the times, to rebel against authority and dis-

cipline and seek for modes of life which demand the least possible

moral restraint. A miracle because Catholic unity has withstood, over
the course of nineteen hundred years, a long succession of determined

attempts by mighty temporal rulers and great continental armies to

destroy it. The Caesars killed 30 Popes, countless members of the

Church hierarchy and faithful laity and outlawed all public worship

for four centuries. Attila and his armies ravaged the Church horribly

as they swarmed over Europe— until they were stopped cold on the
steps of St. Peter’s in Rome and turned back by one lone, unarmed

figure— the Pope. The Protestant Reformation witnessed the martyr-
dom, especially in England, of tens of thousands of Bishops, priests

and members of religious orders because they refused to break with

C19 3



Holy Mother Church and embrace the new state religion. Then it

was Napoleon’s turn to vent his inordinate lust for power on the

Church. He vowed that he would destroy the authority of the Pope

forever
* And in our own times, we see that the perennial war against

the Catholic Church is being waged by the Communists. It is reliably

estimated that the number of priests and faithful laity killed by the

red tyrants in China, the Balkans and Eastern Europe, already exceeds

the toll of any previous period of persecution.

A miracle of survival, indeed. In the history of Christianity liter-
ally hundreds of self-styled Christian churches have sprung into

existence during periods of religious tolerance, flourished for awhile,

then either disappeared entirely or broke up into isolated, sterile

little camps when the going got rough. Take the Marcionites, the

Montanists, the Novatians, the Manicheons, the Arians and the Jovin-

ians, for instance. All of these churches enjoyed large followings at

one time— Arianism had a larger membership than the present-day
Episcopalian and Presbyterian Churches combined— but, alas, today
all are as extinct as the dodo bird. And consider the Nestorian, Pre-

destinarian, Monophysite and Waldensian Churches— old churches
all of them; today you would need a magnifying glass to find them

on the map. But the Catholic Church, by far the oldest Church of

them all, how she has continued to grow and expand throughout the

centuries, mysteriously drawing from all her persecutions greater

strength and virility— ever maintaining that indomitable unity which
obviously was her birthright from the beginning.

Eusebius, one of the great Christian Fathers of the Fourth Century,

made a comment on Catholic unity which certainly is as relevant today

as it was then. Said he: “For the inventions of the enemies soon

disappeared, being refuted by the truth itself; because while sect

after sect appeared with their innovations, the earlier ones always

passed away and splitting up into numerous and manifold forms would

go to ruin in one way or another; the only true, the glorious, the

Catholic Church, on the contrary, remaining ever firm and ever the

self same in all things, still went on increasing and developing; and

showed forth in brilliant light the venerableness and the purity of

*Humbled by defeat, Napoleon, who was born a Catholic, reaffirmed the authority

of the Pope and on his deathbed asked for, and received, the Last Sacraments of the

Church.

non



its divine doctrine and mode of life.”— Eccl. Hist., Boo\ 4, Chap. 11.
Prophetic words, these.

Now, what of Protestantism and the Eastern Orthodox Churches?

Can you ascribe to them any real honest to goodness unity? Lo, what

has become of the original Protestant and Greek Churches? Look

at their histories—. In contrast to the nineteen hundred year old,
steadfast oneness of the Catholic Church, Protestantism and the Eastern

Orthodox Churches have, in a relatively short time, become divided

and sub-divided into over four hundred separate church organizations,

no two of them recognizing the same administrative authority, no two

of them holding to exactly the same articles of faith. Lutheranism,

for example, is divided into 22 independent church bodies (called

synods) and doctrinal variations; Methodism is divided 17 ways;

the Baptists are divided 15 ways; the Presbyterians are divided 15 ways;

the Mennonites are divided 12 ways; and the Greek-Russian Church

is divided 14 ways. Then there are the numerous sects (Mormons,

Christian Scientists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Seventh Day Adventists, etc.)

which, while they cannot properly be called Protestant, are definitely

a product of Protestantism in that they emerged from the Protestant

doctrine of private interpretation.*

Even the Jews, since the destruction of their temple city of Jerusa-

lem in 96 A.D., have ceased to recognize a central Rabbinical authority

and became split into many independent factions.

And the divisions outside of the Catholic Church continue unabated.

The records show that for every two Protestant bodies that merge in

an attempt toward unity, four new ones spring up on the sidelines.

The situation has gotten so out of hand that many of the more con-

scientious Protestant leaders are admitting now that real unity within

their ranks appears to be just so much wishful thinking. And they

have begun to cast wistful, envious eyes at the great, imperishable

unity of the Mother Church of Christianity; for never has it been

more obvious than now that the perfect and constant unity Christ

promised His Church is to be found only under her ancient and holy

mantle.

* The right of each individual to disavow the authority of the Church and interpret

the Scriptures according to his own pleasure.

[ 21 ]



V

CATHOLIC CHURCH CAN

PROVE THAT PETER WAS

THE FIRST POPE

The Catholic Church claims that Christ placed the Apostle Peter
in a position of highest authority in the infant Christian Church and

that Peter established himself and his primacy in Rome, Italy, in his

later life thus becoming the first pope of the Catholic Church. And

here, because of the enormously important implications of this claim,

because if this claim can be proved it certifies the exclusive apostolicity

of the Catholic Church, we find ourselves dealing with one of the

most controversial issues in Christianity. The question, therefore, that

we would like to take up here is: What valid evidence does the

Catholic Church present to the world to support her claim?

The author has gathered together in this chapter some of the

more pertinent evidence offered by the Catholic Church to support

her claim and invites you the reader to examine it carefully. Examine

it carefully and impartially, without the impediment of past prejudices,

then judge for yourself whether or not her claim is a valid one.

Peter’s Primacy According to the Scriptures

When Peter was first ushered into Christ’s presence Christ beheld

him, saying,
"THOU ART SIMON, THE SON OF JOHN; THOU

SHALT BE CALLED CEPHAS.” John 1:42. In Aramaic, the lan-
guage that Christ spoke, Cephas means “rock.” In Greek, the language

of John’s Gospel, the word for rock is Petros, or when used for a

person’s name, Peter. Addressing Peter later, Christ said, “AND, 1

SAY TO THEE THOU ART PETER (the roc\) AND UPON

C 22 ]



THIS ROCK I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH . . . AND I WILL
GIVE THEE THE KEYS OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.”
Matt. 16:18. “FEED MY LAMBS; FEED MY SHEEP.” John 21:15-17.
“STRENGTHEN THY BRETHREN.” Lu\e 22:32.

Never once did Christ single out one of the other Apostles and

address him in this manner.

Thus, according to the scriptures, Peter was appointed the highest

ranking Apostle. Nor can there be any doubt that Peter was recog-

nized by the other Apostles as their leader. After the Resurrection

Peter presided at the election of Matthias (Acts 1:22); he is the first

to preach the Gospel (Acts 2:14); the first to work miracles (Acts 3:6);

he is the judge of Ananias and Saphira (Acts 5:1-10); the first to

declare the universality of the Church’s mission (Acts 10); the first

to receive a pagan convert (Acts 10); he presided over the Council

of Jerusalem (Acts 15). And whenever the names of the Apostles

are listed in the Scriptures Peter’s name always appears first.

Peter’s Presence in Rome

The fact that Peter wrote his Epistle from Babylon, i.e., Rome,

is proof positive of his presence there.* Babylon, the ancient city of

iniquity spoken of by the Old Testament prophets, was a cryptic

designation for Rome in Apostolic times, as we learn from the Jewish

writings and the Sibylline books of the first century. Equally con-

vincing is the testimony of the Romans themselves: About the year

140 A.D., Papias wrote, “Peter came and first by his salutory preaching

of the Gospel and by his keys opened in the city of Rome the gates

of the heavenly kingdom.” Then there is the recent excavations in the

catacombs beneath St. Peter’s in Vatican City in which some of the

world’s foremost archeologists participated. According to the official

report, the writings found on the walls and on religious articles estab-

lish beyond any doubt that the Apostle Peter was buried there after

having suffered a martyr’s death.

So overwhelming, in fact, is the evidence that places Peter in Rome

during his last years almost every scholarly non-Catholic historian, men

like Cave, Grotius, Whitby, DeWette, Weisler, Credner, Pearson, Bleck,

Meyer, Renan, Hilgengeld and Mangold, have long since expressed their

complete agreement with the Catholic Church on this score.

* 1 Peter 5:13.

C23 3



Peter the First Pope

Among the evidence offered by the Catholic Church to prove

her claim that Peter was the first Bishop of Rome, the office which

has always designated the holder of the title “pope,” are the writings

of the Christian Church Fathers: In 160 A.D., St. Hegessippus com-

piled a succession of Bishops of Rome to the time of Anicetus, which

contained the name of Peter as first. In 190 A.D., Tertullian states

that the Church of Rome recounts that Clement (fourth pope) was

ordained by Peter. A poem, “Adverse Marcionem,” written about the
same time, speaks of Linus (second pope) being the first “whom Peter

bade to take his place and sit on the chair in mightiest Rome where

he himself had sat.” In 214 A.D., Caius calls Victor “the thirteenth

Bishop of Rome from Peter.” In 225 A.D., St. Hippilytus counts Peter

as the first Bishop of Rome. In 250 A.D., St. Cyprian relates that

Cornelius (twenty-first pope) “mounted the lofty summit of the priest-

hood . . . the place of Peter.”

To the above testimony must also be added the highly significant

fact that at no time in Christian history has anyone other than the

Pope laid claim to the title, Successor of St. Peter the Apostle. No

one has ever come forth and said, “I, not he, am the rightful holder

of the title.” Certainly, if the head of any other church possessed the

credentials to justify such a claim he would not hesitate for one

instant to present them to the Christian world.

There you have it, not all the evidence the Catholic Church can

furnish to prove her inheritance of the “keys” of authority vested in

the Apostle Peter, for a complete presentation would require volumes,

but surely enough to give you a solid basis for opinion. Think it over,

dear friend, then let your better judgment settle the issue in your

mind once and for all.

C24]



VI

THE BIBLE IS A

CATHOLIC PUBLICATION

Als a Protestant, an academically minded Jew, or even a curious

agnostic, you have very probably read the Christian Bible a great

deal, particularly the New Testament. You may even boast that you

are somewhat of an authority on its texts, being able to quote them

prolifically and accurately from memory.

But, really, how much do you know about the origin of the New

Testament— how it came into existence? Not the origin of the indi-
vidual books for their authors are clearly indicated, but the combined

work, the finished edition as Christians know it today. For a broader

knowledge and keener appreciation of the Bible, and Christianity too,

you should obtain this information.

Oh, you may already know that the primitive Church collected

the early Christian writings, totaling about 300, then separated those

written by the Apostles from the others and the inspired writings of

the Apostles from the uninspired; that the scholarly Jerome trans-

lated the approved books into the universal Latin vernacular in 387

A.D. and compiled them into one volume; that Innocent I, who was

highest in authority in the Christian community, passed on their

canonicity in 417 A.D. These little tidbits from Christian Biblical

history are fairly well known. Only you should not be satisfied with

such incomplete and superficial information. You should obtain a

complete, unabridged and authentically documented history and study

all the facts. What you will discover will be most interesting and

extremely thought provoking to say the least.

You will discover, for example, that the primitive Christian Church

£ 25 ]



that collected the Apostles’ writings and the Catholic Church were

one and the same Church; that Jerome was a devout Catholic monk;

that Innocent I was Pope Innocent 1. You will discover, in short, that

it was the hierarchy and scholars of the Catholic Church who gave the

New Testament to the world and no others. It could not have been
otherwise because the Catholic Church was the only Christian Church

then in existence.

“But what about the reports describing the Church’s suppression

of the Bible?” you may ask. Bunk . .
.
pure unadulterated bunk.

Honestly, would the Catholic Church spend three centuries collecting

the books of the Bible from the four corners of the known world,

many centuries laboriously copying it by hand and shed her blood

protecting it from heathen tribesmen if she did not value it highly?

Think! Would she base the liturgy of her divine worship on the

Gospels, incense them at High Mass, kiss them at Low Mass and read

them aloud at mass each day of the year if she did not hold them

to be truly the Holy Word of God? Why would she call the right
side of her altars the “Gospel Side” and the left side the “Epistle Side”

if she did not have a very high and reverent regard for the Bible?

Ask yourself, dear reader, where else in the world is there such great

love and respect for the Bible?

History tells us that after the Catholic Church compiled the Bible

back in Christian antiquity it remained her exclusive property for

seven centuries, until the Greek Schism in 1054 A.D.. Now if the
Catholic Church had little regard for the Bible as her enemies allege,

how, pray tell, can they be sure that the Bible they have received from

her is whole and true? How can they be sure the Catholic Church
did not make a great lot of deliberate changes and omissions in the

context of the New Testament Scriptures when she had them all to

herself? Or that the complete work is not a big Catholic forgery?

The plain truth is: no one, absolutely no one, can be sure of the

authenticity and inspiration of the Bible without complete faith in

the holy integrity of the Catholic Church. Unless there is complete

faith in her integrity and authority there can be no certainty at all

in the religion of those who regard the Bible as their sole guide to

eternal salvation.

Yes, it is quite true that the Catholic Church did condemn John

Wycliff’s, Martin Luther’s and William Tyndale’s translations of the

£ 26 ]



Bible. This she freely admits. But not, as some allege, because they

translated the Bible into the vernacular of the common people, but

because they made erroneous translations. Bunsen, eminent Protestant

Biblical scholar, reported that he found no less than 3,000 inaccuracies

in Luther’s translation alone. Therefore it is easy to see that in con-

demning the Bible translations of those ambitious but self-willed men

the Church was merely exercising a sacred trust, that of keeping God’s

articles of faith whole and incorrupt. She was doing no less than

the United States Government would do if someone printed and circu-

lated spurious copies of the United States Constitution.

Further evidence of the Catholic Church’s wisdom with respect

to the Holy Bible is in the manner she dispenses its truths. Whereas

all other Christian churches either give their members divers inter-

pretations or encourage them, learned and unlearned alike, to figure

it out for themselves, the Catholic Church gives her faithful one,

uniform, authoritative and never changing interpretation. She alone

regards God's truth as one immutable truth, not to be bandied around

by human whim and prejudice. See 2 Peter 3:16.

Truly, all Christianity can raise its voice in a great concert of

thanks to the Catholic Church, not only for giving them the Holy

Bible in the first instance but for her devoted guardianship over the

whole truth of its contents. For unless the Holy Bible is preserved

whole and incorrupt it ceases to be of value in the edification of the

soul— it ceases to be a holy Bible.

C27 3



VII

CATHOLIC CHURCH HAS

PROPER ATTITUDE TOWARD

CHRIST’S MOTHER

one characteristic of the Catholic Church that strikes the observer
as being most peculiarly Catholic is her great and unswerving devo-

tion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Mary has been variously referred

to by Catholics as “the Fair Bride of the Canticles,” “the Stay of

Believers,” “The Church’s Diadem,” and many other such lavish

terms of affection. So great, in fact, is the love and tribute paid to

Mary by Catholics it very often is mistaken for adoration.

Now the question is, what justification is there in the House of
God for such magnanimous affection for another human being? For

that it what Mary is— not a deity, not an angel, but another human
being.

The Catholic position concerning Mary, briefly, is this: That

while she is a human being, she very definitely is not an ordinary

human being. Through the Special Providence of God she was con-

ceived immaculately without any stain of sin and given all the graces

proper to qualify her to become the Mother of the Redeemer. By virtue

of her Divine Maternity Mary became the Media through which Salva-

tion came to the world.

Thus God elevated Mary to the highest dignity possible to a mere

creature. She was drawn into a more intimate relationship with Him

than any other member of the human race. Jesus Christ, who was

God Incarnate, was Blood of her blood, Flesh of her flesh. At her

breast He was suckled. In her arms He was cradled . . . bathed . . .

clothed. It was Mary, always the tender and devoted mother, who

12*1



watched over the Divine Christ until He was grown to glorious

manhood, who trudged the torturous Calvary road with Him, who

received His Sacred Body down from the cross and laid Him in

the tomb.

Alas! It was from Mary that Christ too\ the blood He shed for

the redemption of the world.

When Catholics pay homage to Mary, therefore, they are express-

ing their gratitude for the great and vital part she played in the divine

plan of redemption, gratitude to her and gratitude to God for con-

ceiving her. When Catholics pay homage to Mary they are simultane-

ously and in the most gracious way paying homage to her Divine Son.

It is as reasonable as that.

Despite the reasonableness of this, however, there may still be

some who find it difficult to accept Mary in the same spirit of reverence.

Very often old prejudices become so deeply ingrained in the mind

they cannot be uprooted even by reason. For the benefit of those

persons we simply point out that if Catholics are wrong in their great

reverence for Mary, then so was the whole Christian community from

the time of the Apostles until modern times. For history furnishes

abundant proof that devotion to the Mother of God is as old as

Christianity itself.

Even Martin Luther, though he repudiated a number of traditional

Christian beliefs, held fast to this one. In his Deutsche Schriften Luther

wrote, “Therefore, in a word, all dignities are embraced in Mary

when we call her the Mother of God; no one can speak greater things

of her or to her.” Again in his Postille on the Feast of Our Lady’s

Nativity, he wrote, “Gladly will I have Mary pray for me.” The Hail

Mary, Luther’s biographers tell us, was one of his favorite prayers.

Verily, it would be very difficult to scorn the Mother without

offending the Son.

1291



VIII

CATHOLIC CHURCH IS MODERN

CIVILIZATION’S GREATEST

BENEFACTOR

By THEIR FRUITS SHALL YOU KNOW THEM." With these
words Christ restated an old axiom: the best way to distinguish the use-

ful from the useless—the godly from the godless. It means, simply, that
the measure of a person’s true worth is the good he contributes to society.

Fame, wealth and power, in themselves, are negative. Good works born

of brotherly love and in tune with the Will of God—only that is positive.
The same rule, of course, applies equally to governments and institutions.

Which brings us to the question: What is the temporal value of the

Catholic Church to society? How much good has she contributed to the

world during her lifetime, not only in the sphere of religion but in the

fields of social, cultural and scientific achievement? How do her good
fruits compare with those of other religions?

Here again the record speaks for itself. A glance into the history of
our civilization’s progress reveals that the Catholic Church has, by and

large, been the world’s greatest single contributor for the common good.

In the field of social justice we note that it was she who not only con-

ceived of the Magna Carta, that great document which formed the basis

of all modern law and jurisprudence, but collaborated in its writing.

Then, more recently, there was the encyclical of Popes Leo XIII and

Pius XI on the inherent rights of all classes; especially the laboring

classes. We have the word of no less an authority than the late great

C 30 ]



U. S. Senator, Robert Wagner,* that these papal encyclicals provided the

inspiration for almost all of the progressive social legislation in the past

several decades. This and other knowledge of Catholic justice eventually

led to Senator Wagner’s conversion to the Catholic religion.

Former President Woodrow Wilson, in his book, The New Free-
dom, had this to say about the Church’s role in the development of

democratic principles in government: “Society from the bottom has

always interested me profoundly. The reason why government did not

suffer dry rot in the middle ages, was that most of the men who were

efficient instruments of government were drawn from the Church

—

from that great religious body which was the only Church, that body

which we now distinguish from other religious bodies, as the Catholic

Church. The Catholic Church was then, as it is now, a great democracy.”

Woodrow Wilson knew what he was saying because, besides being a

great statesman, he was one of the most astute scholars of his day.

A similar observation was made by the eminent non-Catholic
clergyman, Dean Farrar, who wrote: “What was it which saved the

principles of law and order and civilization? . . . What kept alive the

dying embers of science? . . . What was the sole witness for the cause

of charity, the sole rampart against intolerable oppression? . . . What

weak and unarmed power alone retained the strength and the determin-

ation to dash down the mailed hand of the baron when it was uplifted

against his serf, to proclaim a truce of God between warring violences,

and to make insolent wickedness tremble by asserting the inherent su-

premacy of goodness over transgressions, of knowledge over ignorance,

or of right over brute force? You will say the Church; you will say Chris-

tianity. Yes, but for many a long century the very bulwarks and ramparts

of the Church were the monastaries, and the one invincible force of the

Church lay in the self-sacrifice, the holiness, the courage of the monks

and of the missionaries sent forth from the monastaries.”

Statements like these by learned and fair-minded people on the

contributons of the Catholic Church to social justice and good govern-

ment would fill volumes.

The roll call of Catholics who have risen to immortality in the

fields of science and the arts reads like a modern big city telephone

# Author of the Social Security Act, National Labor Relations Act, National Industrial

Recovery Act and the United States Housing Act.

C313



directory. On her roster of famed scientists appears such names as
Copernicus, Gerbert,* Galileo, Pasteur, Ampere,** Mendel,*** Volta,

Muller, Madame Curie and Marconi. Among her musicians are to be
found the immortal names of Bach, Beethoven, Wagner, Mendelssohn,

Mozart, Chopin, Liszt, Gounod, Verdi, Schubert, Strauss, Paderewski

and Kreisler. Her artists include such renowned names as Michelangelo,

da Vinci, Raphael, Goya, El Greco, Velasquez, Rubens, Rembrandt, Van

Dyck and Durer. In the field of literature we find such Catholic names

as Cervantes, Dante, Chaucer, Shakespeare,**** Hugo, Dostoevski,

Chesterton, Undset and the late Fulton Oursler.

And it might be noted in passing that mechanical printing, the

medium by which all culture and learning is preserved and transmitted,

is the invention of the very devout Catholic, Johannes Gutenberg. Guten-

berg’s first printed work was the Catholic Bible.

Then there is the field of exploration, the establishment of the world’s

avenues of communication and commerce. Again we see Catholics play-

ing the dominant role in the persons of Leif Ericson, Marco Polo, Co-

lumbus, Magellan, Cortez, Ponce de Leon and Vasco da Gama. History

recounts that America is named after the Catholic navigator and map

maker, Amerigo Vespucci.f

And finally, in that field that best reflects the attributes of Almighty

God, charity, it is to be observed that the Catholic Church, since her very

inception, has operated more orphanages, homes for the aged, hospitals,

leprosariums and charities for the afflicted and oppressed than all other

religions in the world combined. Biased opinion? No. The International

* Gerbert was the family name of Pope Sylvester II, known as the father of

modern mathematics. He introduced the use of Arabic numerals into Europe,

formulated the decimal system for computing fractions and invented the first

mechanically operated calculating machine.

** Ampere, a Catholic priest, was first to discover a system for measuring electricity.

*** Mendel, a Catholic monk, pioneered the study of heredity.
**** Reccnt discoveries furnish conclusive proof that Shakespeare never relinquished

the Catholic faith he received from his parents, although he was forced to

practice his faith in secret because of the intense persecution loyal Catholics were

being subjected to in England during his lifetime.

t There are a few historians, however, who claim that the English explorer, John

Cabot, who landed at Nova Scotia about the same time Amerigo Vespucci went

ashore at Florida, named the new continent after his financial backer, Richard

Ameryk. But this would not, if true, change the picture as Cabot and Ameryk

were Catholics also.

C323



Red Cross, which is noted for its impartiality, can corroborate these

figures and, very likely, add a few of their own.

In 1946, Mahatma Ghandi wrote of the Catholic Church and its

care for the world’s lepers : “A leprosarium demands the highest idealism

and the most perfect abnegation. The world of politics and journalism

possess no heroes comparable to Father Damien of the Molokai Lepro-

sarium. But the Catholic Church can count in thousands those who,

after the example of Father Damien, are dedicated to the service of the

lepers. It is worth-while to seek the source of such heroism.”

The Catholic Church, at the present time, is caring for over 79,000

lepers, or about 65-percent of all the hospitalized lepers in the world

—

and only the smallest fraction of these lepers are Catholic. Moreover,

95-percent of the leprosariams under the Church’s administration were

founded by her and are being supported solely from Catholic charities.

Needless to say, a great many priests and nuns have fallen victim to

the dread disease as a result of their close contact with it—but that
has not deterred them. The greater the squalor and the misery, the

greater the need for charity; and the great heart of the Catholic Church

never ceases to respond.

Do not, however, misconstrue what is meant here. The author does

not mean to convey the impression that the Catholic Church has a corner

on charitableness, or on any of the other forms of humanitarianism here-

in described. A large number of secular organizations, and not a few
non-Catholic religious bodies, have contributed much toward social

welfare and the progress of our civilization. It would indeed be a gross

injustice to deny to others the credit which is their due. The point this

chapter was meant to convey, is this: The Catholic Church, since the

advent of Christianity, has been, and continues to be, the greatest single

force in the world for justice, morality and the advancement of modern

culture; Especially where religion is concerned, she has been the most

faithful and consistent Good Samaritan. The truth of this statement, as

we have already shown, is simply a matter of record.

In other words, dear reader, if you are looking for a really good

and holy cause with which to associate yourself, a cause which has proven

its value to humanity in unprecedented fashion

—

be a Catholic. Your

life and your life’s eternal reward cannot help but be the better for it.

[333



IX

SUPERNATURAL CHARACTER

OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

PROVED BY HER MIRACLES

U P until now in this little work we have examined some of the per-
tinent passages of Sacred Scripture, heard the voice of the Church

Fathers, reviewed the testimony of history and mulled over a host of

statistics. That the Catholic Church is all she claims she is, i. e., the one

true, apostolic Church of Christ, should be very apparent by this time.

Yet we know that there will be some hardened skeptics who will demand

additional proof. The Scriptures, they will say, have been interpreted

too many ways to instill confidence in their exact meaning; the Church

Fathers could have been premature in their classification of the Catholic

Church; history, like those who write it, can be bias; and statistics can

easily be rigged. A cynical view for anyone to have, to say the least, and
one that could conceivably shut the door on all faith, not only faith in

religion but faith in humanity as well.

Still, as cynical and unreasonable as this challenge is, the Catholic

Church is fully prepared to meet it.

Like Christ, who was also asked to furnish positive proof of His

Divinity,* the Catholic Church points to her many miracles. Not those

simple mind over body “healings” indulged in by some religious sects,

called “neuro-pathical cures” by medical science, and which are not

miracles at all in the religious sense, but real miracles entirely removed

from the natural order, miracles that visibly reveal the Divine Presence—
miracles such as have never occurred within the framework of any other

religion since the time of Christ.

* Matthew 11:3-5.

C34J



The miracle of St. Francis, for instance. This humble and devout

monk, founder of the Franciscan Order, was absorbed in prayer one

day in 1220 on the slopes of Mount Alvernus in Italy when a flaming

light in the form of a cross appeared out of the sky and hovered

immediately above him. In his prayers Francis had been petitioning

Christ for a share in His suffering. When the blazing crosss ascended

back into the heavens Francis was left with the wounds of the Cruci-

fied Christ in his hands, feet and side, exactly where Christ had received

them, wounds that never stopped bleeding during all of Francis’ life-

time. The whole countryside testified to having witnessed the dazzling

white cross over Alvernus and doctors from far and wide who exam-

ined Francis’ wounds were never able to attribute them to natural

causes.

Francis’ was the first recorded case of the Holy Stigmata but

since then at least 148 cases have been reported and duly examined

by Church and medical authorities, all of them Catholics \nown for

their Christian piety. Two stigmatics are living in the world today.*
And medical science still can offer no explanations other than to say,

“Miraculous!”

Of world renown are the miraculous waters at the Grotto of

Our Lady of Lourdes, France. Here, in 1858, the Blessed Virgin

appeared to the girl Bernadette on 18 different occasions and on her

last ordered a spring of water to flow from the spot where she stood.

Church authorities, after lengthy investigation and being satisfied that

Bernadette’s experience was more than just an hallucination, erected

a beautiful basilica on the grotto site in 1876. Then pilgrims came

to bathe in the grotto waters and at once the miraculous curative

properties of the water became evident. Incurables, people with mal-

formed bone structure and people completely ridden with cancer,

who bathed in the water emerged normal, healthy people.

At the invitation of the Church a clinic was installed on the

premises (now one of the most modern in all Europe) and every

cure was given thorough medical examination to determine whether

or not they might be due to psychological or other natural influences.

The diagnosis of leading clinicians who have come to Lourdes from

every part of the world and examined the case histories: “Miraculous.”

If space allowed we could go on and on describing the super-

* Theresa Neumann of Bavaria and Padre Pio of Italy.

H35:



natural occurrences that distinguish the Catholic Church from all

others. There was the Cure of Ars, St. John Vianney, who healed

the blind and lame and wrought thousands of conversions with his

prayers. A throng of people observed rose petals falling mysteriously
out of the air during the canonization of St. Theresa of Lisieux. The

appearance of the Blessed Virgin in 1917 to the three Catholic children

of Fatima, Portugal, during which the sun danced, spun and fell from

its normal position in the sky, is a miracle of singular significance

in our times. Here she prophesied that unless the world turned from

its wickedness to God Russia would grow powerful and bring great

misery to the people. Over 100,000 people testified to having witnessed

the Fatima miracle and the entire world has witnessed the fulfillment

of its prophecy.

Yes, we could cite many supernatural manifestations that have

occurred within the holy framework of the Catholic Church, but the

above should serve to prove our point; namely, that the Catholic

Church is divinely constituted, the only church on the face of the

earth so constituted, the only church on the jace of the earth in direct

and visible communion with Almighty God and His Heavenly Court.

£ 36 ]



X

CATHOLIC CHURCH

GIVES HER FAITHFUL

INCOMPARABLE PEACE OF SOUL

Here is an intriguing question: Just what is it about the Catholic
Church that gives her her great universal appeal? Everyone, even her

bitterest enemies, will concede that she has that. The spectacle of her

431 million members from every walk of life, representing three-fifths

of all Christianity, is evidence that cannot easily be ignored.

Is the Catholic Church’s appeal due to her beautiful edifices, the

greatest works of architectural art on the face of the earth? Or to

the awe inspiring splendor of her liturgies and processions? Or, to

take a peek “inside” Catholicism, does her popularity stem from her

cogent, forceful and uncompromising doctrine?

No doubt, these things do command a certain admiration and

probably contribute a great deal toward cultivating interest in the

Catholic religion. But, surprisingly, it is not these that pull the trigger

of final assent in the minds of millions of converts year after year

all over the world. No, the main, the most potent factor in the popu-

larity of the Catholic Church is something vastly more alluring.

Ask the Catholic convert sometime. He or she will tell you that

their primary motive for embracing Catholicism is the incomparable

peace and joy the Catholic Faith produces in the soul. Confusion and

despair, loneliness and melancholy, these have no place in the life

of the Catholic. In the lives of devout Catholics they are, in fact,

unknown states of mind.

That is because Catholics are given a positive and consummate

consciousness of the Reality of God and His Loving Solicitude. Suspi-

[373



cion and guesswork are ruled out altogether. The whole order of

creation is brought into clear and beautiful focus. And the Catholic

beholds in the midst of it all the sublime motive, the true and

transcendent purpose, of his existence. No longer does he grope and

flounder through life like a ship on a tempestuous sea without a

compass. He knows where he is headed and he has a skilled and

experienced navigator to take him there. His is a wonderful feeling

of safety.

Nor does the Catholic rest his convictions on the authority of

some fly-by-night theorist. He rests his convictions on the authority

of a mighty two thousand year old institution that has produced

not only the world’s greatest theological and metaphysical minds but

legions of saints without parallel in the history of the human race.

His convictions rest on the authority of that Church which alone

can furnish positive historical proof that it was founded, not by some

ordinary person like you and me, but by the God-Man Christ Himself.

In short, the Catholic has the supreme satisfaction of knowing that

his convictions rest on the most reliable authority of all.

Yes, the peace of soul the Catholic Church gives her sons and

daughters constitutes her real appeal to humankind. But it is a peace

that must be traced to its first source to be fully understood and

appreciated.

The first source of this great blessing is found in the Church’s

vitals: the Mass, the Sacraments, the Benedictions, the Holy Rosary,

the Stations of the Cross and the Litanies to God and His Heavenly

Court; especially the Mass for it is here the faithful meet Christ their

Savior face to face in the Holy Eucharist. When a devout Catholic

participates in these solemnities he is at once removed from all the

ramifications of the world. He experiences an intimacy with God that

is joyously real and quite beyond compare. His whole being is refreshed

and exhilarated, as a draught of cool water refreshes and exhilarates

a man just off a burning desert. He is given a new lease on life. He

is given peace, the true peace that only complete reconciliation with

God can produce.

Here is the explanation for the almost total absence of Catholics

in mental hospitals. In the U. S. A., for instance, less than three per

cent of the people committed to mental hospitals during the ten year

period just ended were Catholics, although Catholics comprised 27

c 38 n



per cent of the population. But what is even more significant, Catholics

constituted less than one per cent of the patients afflicted with paranoia

(chronic hallucinations) and dementia praecox (deteriorated mentality).

Then there is the 1952 report of the non-partisan World Health Organ-

ization which gives the lowest suicide rate in the world to the countries

with the highest percentage of Catholic population. What could be

better proof of the stabilizing and strengthening influence of Catholi-

cism on the mind?

So why not join the Catholic Church, dear friend, and share in

this wonderful joy and tranquility, this intimate friendship with

Almighty God? Why not “Go, show thyself to the priest” as Christ

advised * and let him give you “the pearl of great price,” the beautiful,

the precious, the eternal Catholic Faith? Do this and 431 million

people promise you that you will never cease being thankful, never

cease singing in your heart, “Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life at last I’ve

found thee ... ah, at last I know the secret of it all.”

But especially will you be thankful at the moment of death.

When the element of life begins draining out of your body and you

realize that in a few seconds you will be standing before the Justice

Seat of God, what a comfort to look back on all the moments of

reconciliation with Him at Mass and the Sacraments, to feel the

Unction of the last rites being administered to you by the priest

and hear his impassioned prayers as he pleads your case before the

Divine Tribunal, to \now that you die a bonafide member of Christ’s

Mystical Body on earth. Yes, it is then that you will be especially

thankful for the peace that is the Catholic Faith, then that you will

have really discovered the “appeal” of the Catholic Church.

May God bless you and quicken your decision.

* Luke 5:14.

£ 39 ]



ANSWERS TO A

FEW QUESTIONS

0. What actually ta\es place at the Mass?

A. The Mass is the chief form of worship in the Catholic Church

and is a repetition of the Last Supper at which Christ changed

bread and wine into His own Body and Blood, offered it up

to the Father for the remission of sins, gave it to His Apostles to

eat and drink, then ordered them to perpetuate the Holy Rite.

Lu\e 22:19-20. Catholics believe that the Mass is the only perfect

form of worship because Christ prescribed it, because at Mass

the faithful make the most perfect love offering of all to God,

His own Divine Son, and because at Mass the faithful have the

ineffable privilege of receiving into themselves Christ’s own Divine

Substance in the Holy Eucharist, the food of everlasting life. The

Mass has been the chief form of Christian worship since the

days of the Apostles and is still the chief form for four-fifths

of the world’s Christians.

p. Why do priests spea\ Latin at Mass instead of the language of
the congregation?

A. Latin is the language of the Mass because it is the universal lan-

guage of the Church. But more especially Latin is used because

it guarantees universal and continual uniformity of worship. Latin

is the only language in the world that does not change. Catholics

quickly learn to follow the Latin of the Mass by using a Missal,

a little book containing the full translation. But Latin is not the

only language the priest speaks at Mass. The Gospels, Epistles and

the Sermon are spoken in the language of the congregation as

are a large number of prayers.

[40 3



Q. Christ said all who believe in Him will be saved. John 6:47. Is

not Christ's true Church then a spiritual union of all who believe

in Him, regardless of denomination, and not any one physical

and autonomous organization?

A. Yes, Our Lord did say all who believe in Him will be saved,

but He qualified that statement by asserting that belief in Him

implies belief in all His teachings and recognition of the authority

of His visible Church to administer those teachings. Matt. 16:18

and 18:17. Bear in mind that Christ taught only one doctrine;

therefore, in order for a church to qualify as His true Church, it

must also teach only one doctrine. Hence, to presume that Christ’s

true Church is a union, spiritual or otherwise, of hundreds of

denominations teaching hundreds of different doctrines is abso-

lutely contrary to all reason. How can the various denominations
constitute a union of belief when it is precisely for the reason

that they are divided in belief that they are separate denominations?

Further, the divine Christ was too filled with compassion and

mercy to make people obtain their means of salvation from any-

thing so intangible and incomprehensible as a spiritual body.

That is why He committed the perpetuation of His holy ministry

of salvation to the Aposdes, a physical, living organization, declar-

ing to them: “He who heareth you, heareth me.” Lu\e 10:16.

“As the Father has sent me, I send you.” John 20:21. “Go, there-

fore, and make disciples of all nations . . . and behold, I am

with you all days, even unto the consummation of the world.”

Matt. 28:19-20. Obviously, the last statement is a guarantee that

His visible, living Church, its unity and its authority, would not

end with the Aposdes but would continue on in their legitimate

successors throughout the lifetime of the world.

Q. What is the real purpose of statues in Catholic Churches?

A. The practice of placing likenesses of the Holy Family and the

Saints in the Church originated during primitive Christianity

and was done to accomplish a twofold purpose: to provide the

faithful with a visual portrayal of the main figures and events of

Christianity * and to remind and inspire the people to emulate

the heroic Christian virtues of the prototypes they represent. Many

* The value of visual education is recognized by all modern educational authorities.

C 41



Protestant churches use paintings and stained glass murals to

accomplish this aim but the Catholic Church, in addition to pic-

tures, uses statues which, being more realistic, are more effective.

Q. Can the Catholic doctrine of Purgatory be proved by Scripture

and reason

?

A. The Scriptures refer to Purgatory but they do not call it by that

name, the same as the words “Bible,” “hospital,” “aunt,” “uncle,”

etc. appear nowhere in the Scriptures but are clearly inferred.

Purgatory, simply, is the name the early Christians gave to the

place where souls go that are defiled, hence cannot go to heaven

(Apoc. or Rev. 21:27), but are not sufficiently defiled to be

eternally committed to hell. It is the place where slight sins are

purged away and the “soul saved so as by fire.” 1 Cor. 3:15.

The reason and justice of a place of purgation in between heaven

and hell is best illustrated by our courts of justice when they

acquit the innocent man (heaven), sentence a man guilty of a

minor crime to temporary imprisonment (purgatory) and sentence

a man guilty of a great crime to life imprisonment (hell).

0. Why aren't priests permitted to marry and have families?

A. In some areas of the Catholic Church, as in the Eastern Rite

Churches of Syria, Armenia, Iraq, Turkey, Lebanon and Egypt,

priests are permitted to live in the married state. It is an old,

time honored tradition with them and is tolerated because, in

the final analysis, celibacy is not a dogma of faith. But to under-

stand the wisdom of celibacy in the priesthood of the Western

Church, which constitutes the main body of Catholicism and

which holds to traditions more ancient than those of the Eastern

Church, it is necessary to understand what the vocation of the

Catholic priesthood really represents: The Catholic priesthood is

a continuation of the earthly Priesthood of Christ. Christ cast the

die for the priesthood when He declared to the Apostles, the first

priests of His Church, “As the Father has sent me, I send you.”

fohn 20:21. Which is plain language meaning: as He lived, so

should those who carry on His work live. He was to be regarded

as the Archtype, the Divine Model, in all things pertaining to

the priestly vocation— and He was a celibate. His ministry was
one of complete dedication, therefore the continuation of His

[42 3



ministry should also be one of complete dedication allowing for

no separate interests and restricting obligations such as marriage

would impose. By their own admission the Apostles accepted

celibacy and all the other sacrifices that complete dedication to

God implies. Matt. 19:27. And by Christ’s comment on their

admission it is clear that they were doing the correct thing. Matt.

19:29. But perhaps the most eloquent testimonial in the Sacred

Scriptures for the justification of celibacy in the priesthood was

given by the Apostle Paul when, addressing those of his disciples

who wished to serve God with their whole heart, he said, “I would

have you free from care. He who is unmarried is concerned about

the things of the Lord, how he may please God. Whereas he

who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how

he may please his wife; and he is divided.” 1 Cor. 7:32-33. Also

see Matthew 19:12.

Q. Is not confessing one's sins to a priest a contradiction of that

passage in Sacred Scripture which declares that Christ is the sole

mediator between God and man?

A. No. Not unless one thinks Christ was given to contradicting

himself. For it was none other than He who instituted confession,

or the Sacrament of Penance as it is properly called, in the Church.

John 20:21-23. That no contradiction exists, however, is easily

explained. Simply bear in mind that it is not to some ordinary

Joe Doakes that one confesses his sins, but to a priest of Christ’s

Church, the Church which is the visible Body of Christ living

still. Col. 1:24. Hence it is directly to Christ, “the sole mediator,”

mystically present in the living fibers of His Church, to whom
confessions are made. And it is by Christ’s authority vested in

His Church that sins are forgiven. Matt. 18:18. The Church points

out, however, that the conditions for forgiveness are sincere con-

trition and a firm resolve to resist the temptations that might

lead to future offenses against God.

Q. Do Catholics confess all the details of their sins to the priest?

A. No. And if one volunteered the details the priest hearing the confes-

sion would politely refuse them. All the Church requires is a listing

of the types of sins, the number of times committed and, when any

doubt exists, only enough circumstantial information necessary to

1^2



establish the seriousness of the sin. By seriousness is meant will-

fullness and the extent of the harm done to others. Remember,

sins are as disgusting for the priest to hear as they are to tell,

perhaps even more so, therefore he would have you refrain from

what is not absolutely necessary to the Sacrament. Then too

there are usually others waiting their turn to be heard and it

is a matter of conscience to the priest to get to them as soon as

possible. Actually, the Church asks for a less detailed account of

the intimate side of people’s lives than do doctors and lawyers;

but, even so, what has been revealed in the confessional is infinitely

more private. A priest is forbidden under pain of excommunication
to repeat what he has heard in the confessional, no matter to

whom . Confession is one of the least understood of the Sacra-

ments of the Church and, consequently, is one of the main

stumbling blocks in the minds of prospective converts. But, as any

Catholic will testify, it is not the painful experience some people

imagine. Rather, confession is a wonderful, relieving experience.

Once it is experienced it is recognized as one of the most precious

and salutory of the Sacraments, one of the brightest jewels in

the bountiful treasure that is the Catholic Faith. For it is by

this Sacrament that peace with God is renewed, the door to the

Eucharistic banquet opened.

Q. What is the extent of the loyalty Catholics owe to the Pope and

what is the justification for it?

A. The only loyalty Catholics are required to give to the Pope is in

matters relating to faith and morals. As Successor of St. Peter,

appointed by Christ the first head of His Church (Matt. 16:18),

the Pope is recognized by Catholics as Christ’s Vicar on earth,

the supreme authority on such matters in the household of the

faithful. Nor is there anything illogical or totalitarian connected

with such authority; first because Christ, who is Infinite Wisdom,

could not create an illogical office, and secondly, because there is

not now and never was a united, harmonious branch of human

society without a supreme authority in its government. Put an

army in the field without a high command and see how confused

and ineffectual it becomes. The fact that the papacy has endured

without change or interruption longer than any government that

1^1



has ever existed on earth is further proof of its divine origin

and soundness.

Q. Wasn’t the sixteenth century Reformation justified in view of

the worldliness of the popes and many of the Catholic hierarchy

?

A. That all depends on whether you are referring to the Catholic

Reformation or to the Protestant Reformation. If you have the

former in mind, it was indeed justified. There is no question

but that the private lives of Pope Leo X (1517-1521) and Clement
VII (1523-1534) and many of the bishops and clergy of that

period failed to measure up to the holy dignity of their office.

It was a situation that demanded correcting and which got cor-

recting— but quick. So aroused with indignation were the
conscientious bishops and lesser clergy, notably St. Robert Bellar-

mine, St. Canisius and St. Charles Borromeo, that by mid-century

every one of the offenders had either been deposed from their

positions of ecclesiastical responsibility or persuaded to mend their

ways. And to make certain that the private lives of her priests

would never again cast a shadow on the precious good name of

Holy Mother Church, a strict code of discipline, which obligated

all priests and members of the hierarchy under pain of severe

censure, was inserted into Canon Law at the Council of Trent

in 1547. Since then there has not been a single pope or bishop

who could be called to account for his private life. If, however*

you have the Protestant Reformation in mind, that very definitely

was not justified, nor was it a reformation in the literal and true

sense of the word. You do not reform the Christian Church by

splitting it into hundreds of hostile camps and conflicting doctrines,

by repudiating a large number of beliefs held by all Christians

since the beginning, and by defaming and seeding the destruction

of the one authority which alone has defended and preserved and

spi'ead the Gospel of Christ throughout the entire civilized world.

Q. Does the Catholic Church teach that only Catholics go to heaven?

A. No. The Catholic Church holds that it is much easier for a

Catholic to attain eternal salvation because she alone is in posses-

sion of the whole deposit of saving precepts and the Christ given

authority to administer them. She believes that God will make

allowances on the Judgment Day for those people who, through

C45 J



no fault of their own, are unaware of the divine mission of the

Catholic Church and who live virtuous, Christlike lives to the

best of their knowledge and ability. God is Justice. The form

and extent of those allowances can only be speculated on, but

reason demands that a person will attain a higher state of spiritual

perfection with its commensurate reward through Grace received

from the Sacramental Life of the Church, than that which is

attainable outside of the Church. If this were not true, Christ

would never have founded the Church in the first place.

THE END

C46]



Blessed be the chosen one, who has chosen the

Catholic Church, that Holy Lamb which the de-

vouring world has not consumed . Give heed, there-

fore, to my instructions, as my disciples, and de-

part not from the Catholic Faith, which I also,

having received in my boyhood, have preserved

immovable; neither turn aside from it in any doubt.

Ephraem, Church Father of the Fourth Century

Book. 2, Testament, pages 242-243







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