Joseph McCabe

“ He had the misfortune, however, to step into the shoes of a great man, and he has, perhaps, acted unwisely in endeavouring to tread in his predecessor’s footsteps too closely instead of confining his attention to the administration of the archdiocese. The intense activity which has kept him continually on the move since he entered the diocese and which has so rapidly aged him has had little or no palpable result, and has certainly not deepened the attachment of his clergy. ”

“ No one contends that the Jesuit is violating his conscience in his plots, intrigues, and equivocations; regret is usually felt that he should have been able to bring his moral sense into such an accommodating attitude. Every ecclesiastic claims to be unworldly in ultimate ambition; yet even a pope would think a life-time well spent in diplomatic intrigue for the restoration of his temporal power. ”

“ However undesirable such a state of things may be, it is no more than any disinterested person would expect. The Church cannot change its character in a day; and its past history, like the history of any priesthood under the sun, is uniformly marred by such weaknesses. The life of Cardinal Pie in France, though written by a Catholic for Catholics, gives the same impression; the relations of the Irish prelates and of the American prelates are quite analogous; Rome, of course, is quite a school of diplomacy and intrigue of no gentle character. ”

“ Catholic priests have two weaknesses in common with the gentler sex—vanity and love of scandal: one cannot move much in clerical circles without soon learning the seamy side of different orders and dioceses. The different dioceses of secular clergy are jealous of one another, and the secular clergy is generally opposed to the regular: nine secular priests out of ten hate all monks, and nine priests (of any kind) out of ten hate the Jesuits—in fact, I have met very many priests who quite accept the Protestant Alliance version of Jesuitism. ”

“ On the whole the relation of the secular clergy to their archbishop [5] may be described as one of good-natured tolerance; he was not popular in Salford, and he is not popular in the South—in fact, few bishops (if any) are popular with their clergy. He is kind and familiar, and always leaves a good impression after a visit to a priest: he is always much less inflexible than his predecessor—indeed it is complained that he is too easily influenced—and nobody doubts his earnestness and sincerity. ”

“ In fact, a private income is as effectual a qualification as could be desired where the diocese is poor and small, and needs no special energy to administrate it. When the bishopric of Clifton was vacant a few years ago, it was laughingly whispered in clerical circles that the first condition of the candidate must be the possession of the modest private income of 250l. per annum. When an important see falls vacant there is naturally much wire-pulling, both in England and at Rome; for the diocese has not a decisive vote in the election of its bishop. ”

“ In boarding-schools kept by nuns, whatever promises may be given to parents, it is regarded as a sacred duty to influence the children as much as possible. And, in spite of the notorious fact that girls educated by nuns are less prepared for the difficulties of life and much more liable to come to grief than other girls, numbers of Protestant girls are annually sent to Catholic schools, largely on the ground of economy. Elementary schools, also, are not only the most effective guardians of their own children, but help to extend Catholic influence. ”

“ Hence there is such a considerable leakage, as it is called, in the Church that it is questionable whether their 'converts' quite fill up the vacant place. I have thought for many years, and I have been confirmed in the opinion by many colleagues, that for the last twenty years, at least, the Church of Rome in England has made no progress, but has probably lost in numbers; taking into account, of course, the increase of a generation. That the Church has made a large number of converts it is impossible to deny, and it would be foolish to question the sincerity of large numbers of its converts. ”

“ I once heard Bishop Paterson explaining that it was undesirable to work for disestablishment just yet, because we Catholics really had not nearly sufficient accommodation for the vast flood of converts that would ensue; we should be quite disorganised.
In point of fact there should be now about a quarter of a million of Catholics in London. Throughout England the ratio of the Catholic population is about 1 in 20, but it is much higher in Lancashire, much lower in London and other places. In Cardinal Manning’s time the figures were vague and disputable. ”

“ In fact every parish in East London counts at least hundreds of drifted Catholics. Whilst thousands and thousands of Catholics are thus separating from the Church, principally for want of churches and priests, great numbers of missionaries are being sent from Mill Hill, amidst much flourish of trumpets, to India, Borneo, Uganda, &c., and an enormous sum is being collected for an unnecessary cathedral; and the Church of Rome makes a special profession of caring for the poor. ”

“ Even canons, as a rule, are very feeble and harmless conspirators; they are generally old men, who are more conspicuous for quantity than quality of service, but have usually sufficient discretion left to know that they are not expected to aspire any higher. In matters of ordinary administration their long experience is often useful to the bishop, with whom they form the chapter of the diocese, but otherwise they have not a very grave responsibility. ”

“ I have not seen the exact figures—I do not suppose they ever passed the archbishop’s study in writing—but I was informed by several reliable priests that out of the small Catholic population of London between 70,000 and 80,000 never went near a church—had practically abandoned the Church. It has been explained that the positive ceremonial obligations of a Catholic are so grave that their continued neglect puts a man outside the pale of the Church. ”

“ The state of things which has excited so much interest in Purcell’s ‘Life of Manning’ is only exceptional in that the Church in England is not likely to have such a number of able men simultaneously again for some time; the jealousy, hostility, meanness, and persecution therein described are familiar to every ‘great ecclesiastical statesman,’ as Manning is most aptly called. ”

“ There are thousands of ordinary people whose only convictions, such as they are, regard certain fundamental points of Christianity, and who are drawn into one or other sect by the merest accident—by contact with a zealous or particularly affable proselytiser, by the influence of relatives, by kindness, taste, and a host of non-religious considerations. ”

“ The income of the parish was deplorable; the vast territory it embraces is full of poor Irish families who live less religiously and not more virtuously than pagans.
At Barking there are more than 200 children in the schools, and the number is not at all complete, and there are not more than fifty adults who attend church; at Grays there is the same condition. A few years ago a zealous priest, F. Gordon Thompson, determined to start a mission in a neglected part of East London—Bow Common ”

“ I have heard one, at a dinner (though towards its close) in a monastery, unburden his mind about monks in general and our friars in particular in a way which would have been warmly approved by the Protestant Alliance Association. With nuns they are usually on very good terms: they find pupils and novices for the convent, and in return are invited to the innumerable special services, luncheons, entertainments, distributions of prizes, &c., which are equally gratifying to them and to the sisters. ”

“ The Jesuits are the most flourishing body of regulars in England as in every other civilised or uncivilised nation. The reason of their success is not far to seek. St. Ignatius founded his society for the special purpose of educating the young ”

“ The more important volumes seem to have been entrusted to the less important men; whilst there is much acute criticism on minor topics, the treatment of the more profound problems is very unsatisfactory, such theses as the spirituality of the soul and the existence and infinity of God are merely supported by the old worn-out arguments. ”

“ At the same time they are characterised by a remarkable esprit de corps which produces an intense isolated activity. The glory of the society is paramount, and always coupled with the glory of the Church; they never co-operate with other orders, but they freely cut across the lines of, and come into collision with, other ecclesiastical forces. Hence there is a very strong feeling against them amongst the clergy and in higher quarters ”

“ The modern friars have too much common sense and too much sense of humour to attempt a bodily revival of the thirteenth century with its antiquated asceticism and crude religious realism. In olden times every monastery had quite an armoury of spiked chains, bloody scourges, thigh bracelets, hair shirts, &c. ”

“ His children, however, have advanced in wisdom and adopted another main object, and a very worthy and arduous one, no doubt—the spiritual care of the rich. To a good supply of men and money they add a rigorous discipline, and the elements of success are complete. A famous Roman caricature hits off very happily the characteristic feature of the Jesuits and of three other orders by a play on the words of Peter to Christ. A Franciscan, Dominican, Augustinian, and Jesuit are seated at a table of money ”

“ They have thus excited much hostility amongst the rest of the clergy, but four centuries of bad treatment from clergy and laity alike have sufficiently inured them, and only made them more self-containing and independent. ”

“ They read little and know little beyond the interminable Anglican controversy. There is a reaction between them and their people; the laity are coerced into literary apathy, and consequently the stimulus to study is absent. ”

“ Their circumstances, naturally, differ very widely in different parishes: as a rule they are not rich. Indeed, I have known a priest to reduce his living expenses to nine shillings per week: I should think there are few who have 150l. per annum. However, they live in hopes of better days: the State grant to their schools will mean a material increase in their personal income. ”

“ Unfortunately they are little better than a translation of the discarded Latin manuals, plus a certain amount of modern psycho-physics; they follow disused shafts of thought much too frequently to be of any real value. ”