Yesterday, 03:20 PM
VII. Why are there more bad Catholics than bad Protestants?
— First, because the number of Catholics is far superior to that of Protestants. In a large city, like Boston, there must be, of course, more bad people than in Brookline or Hull.
Again, the Catholic religion is very earnest in enjoining upon us, on the part of God, a precise and obligatory belief, many noble duties, a determined worship and well-defined and indispensable means of sanctification.
This is all divine, it is true, but it is arduous nevertheless, and human passions do not find their interest in it. The Catholic catechism foresees all and leaves naught to hap-hazard. It is not satisfied with a vague and vapid religiousness; it dots the i (as the French proverb has it), and tells you most explicitly what you must do, and what you shall not do, under penalty of proving yourself a bad Catholic. It commands the practice of exterior observances, which are irksome, because they clash with our corrupt inclinations. Abstinence, fast, confession, etc., etc., must be irksome, of course. One must needs have great energy and great perseverance to keep within the limits of this narrow path.
It is not so on the broad way, or rather on the boundless desert, over which Protestant sects wish us to wander. Certainly, especially at the present time, the religious baggage of Protestantism is not very heavy. Nothing is easier than to be a good Protestant. It is not I who say so, but one of the best known and most stirring parsons of Paris. Tracing the character of a writer,* whose panegyric he draws, and whom he introduces to us as an excellent Protestant, he says: "Of dogmas he believed very little . . . . As for truth, he knew not how to look for it in the dogma, or even in the Gospel. He believed that there was a germ of truth in the holy Scriptures; but he believed them to be mixed up with all kinds of errors, and fancied that with their aid we might maintain and prove everything alike . . . . He believed little in prayer . . . . He heartily detested Catholicity." There you have the Christian. That will do. There you have the Protestant, according to the minister Coquerel.
You see, dear reader, 'tis not very hard to be a good Protestant. Believe whatever you choose in matters of religion. Believe nothing at all, if it suits you better. Be honest, as the world understands it. Read the Bible or not, as it pleases you; go to church or do not go; forget not to subscribe to one or two or three Bible and Evangelical societies; but, above all, hold the Catholic Church in abomination, — and you shall be a good Protestant.*
We shall now quote the opinion of Count de Stolberg, an illustrious Protestant, and a convert to the Catholic Church: it will come with more grace from his own mouth: —
"I have always observed that the worst Catholics become very easily the best of Protestants, and even parsons; but it is my every day's experience that a good Protestant, such as I was, finds it a very hard work to become even a passable Catholic."
Were we not following close the Protestant ministers, and were we not reading their writings, we would scarcely believe the religious nothingness which lies concealed under the convenient cloak of Protestantism. The unprincipled Eugene Sue exclaimed with great truth, on the sight of this facility, that "the surest means to unchristianize Europe was to Protestantize it."
— First, because the number of Catholics is far superior to that of Protestants. In a large city, like Boston, there must be, of course, more bad people than in Brookline or Hull.
Again, the Catholic religion is very earnest in enjoining upon us, on the part of God, a precise and obligatory belief, many noble duties, a determined worship and well-defined and indispensable means of sanctification.
This is all divine, it is true, but it is arduous nevertheless, and human passions do not find their interest in it. The Catholic catechism foresees all and leaves naught to hap-hazard. It is not satisfied with a vague and vapid religiousness; it dots the i (as the French proverb has it), and tells you most explicitly what you must do, and what you shall not do, under penalty of proving yourself a bad Catholic. It commands the practice of exterior observances, which are irksome, because they clash with our corrupt inclinations. Abstinence, fast, confession, etc., etc., must be irksome, of course. One must needs have great energy and great perseverance to keep within the limits of this narrow path.
It is not so on the broad way, or rather on the boundless desert, over which Protestant sects wish us to wander. Certainly, especially at the present time, the religious baggage of Protestantism is not very heavy. Nothing is easier than to be a good Protestant. It is not I who say so, but one of the best known and most stirring parsons of Paris. Tracing the character of a writer,* whose panegyric he draws, and whom he introduces to us as an excellent Protestant, he says: "Of dogmas he believed very little . . . . As for truth, he knew not how to look for it in the dogma, or even in the Gospel. He believed that there was a germ of truth in the holy Scriptures; but he believed them to be mixed up with all kinds of errors, and fancied that with their aid we might maintain and prove everything alike . . . . He believed little in prayer . . . . He heartily detested Catholicity." There you have the Christian. That will do. There you have the Protestant, according to the minister Coquerel.
You see, dear reader, 'tis not very hard to be a good Protestant. Believe whatever you choose in matters of religion. Believe nothing at all, if it suits you better. Be honest, as the world understands it. Read the Bible or not, as it pleases you; go to church or do not go; forget not to subscribe to one or two or three Bible and Evangelical societies; but, above all, hold the Catholic Church in abomination, — and you shall be a good Protestant.*
We shall now quote the opinion of Count de Stolberg, an illustrious Protestant, and a convert to the Catholic Church: it will come with more grace from his own mouth: —
"I have always observed that the worst Catholics become very easily the best of Protestants, and even parsons; but it is my every day's experience that a good Protestant, such as I was, finds it a very hard work to become even a passable Catholic."
Were we not following close the Protestant ministers, and were we not reading their writings, we would scarcely believe the religious nothingness which lies concealed under the convenient cloak of Protestantism. The unprincipled Eugene Sue exclaimed with great truth, on the sight of this facility, that "the surest means to unchristianize Europe was to Protestantize it."
"So let us be confident, let us not be unprepared, let us not be outflanked, let us be wise, vigilant, fighting against those who are trying to tear the faith out of our souls and morality out of our hearts, so that we may remain Catholics, remain united to the Blessed Virgin Mary, remain united to the Roman Catholic Church, remain faithful children of the Church."- Abp. Lefebvre