CATHOLICISM IN THE UNITED STATES.

Mataura Ensign, Volume 7, Issue 395, 26 September 1884, Page 2

CATHOLICISM IN THE UNITED STATES.

We copy the following account of the great and rapid increase in the numbers of the Catholic body from tho New York 1 'Sun': — Within the last generation the Roman Catholic Church has conquered for itself the place formerly held by the Methodists. It is now the most numerous religious community in the United States, and is multiplying much faster than apy other, Built un by immigration, ifc'nbldivall'it gets with a firm hand, and takes care to lose none of the decendants of the adherents it receives from abroad. The Roman Catholic, too, is now the Church of the poor, of the majority, audits political influence overshadows that wielded by the M«thodists. It is very natural, therefore, that the Methodists shuuld be jealous of Roman Catholic progress and success, and that they sh'pul_'i)i/' i ala^n)ea!''4t life "mar'tellQife' prosperity of that Church, 'Their own growth during the earlier days of the Republic was astonishing, but it has been exceeded by that of the Roman Catholics "since the hfii/iuniuff'of the v»?s foreign iuwaigrationi Moreover, while the Roman Catholics keep their own in hand, the Methodists are steadily losing adherents, who are either diujwn off t° Gthpr d,enou}inf),ttqii3 A mi sise rush'ing'l'ntp' inHdelifcy. 'They gaiii tf.an'y. _ut many are taken from them'alsb, As Methodist families gather riches, the children are apt to acquire a distaste for the Church of their fathers. It is not fashionable enough for them, and they are ashamed of its homely j ways and associations. Religious scepticism is also appearing among the Methodists, and weakening the force of the body which of old knew only religious faith and zeal, flr _!uriy, L the?r' chief lQhol4V cjipfjasses that he has come tc- the conclusion that many 'of the Bible stories are only old women's tales, and that the ancient veneration for the Scriptures as the Word of God must slowly disappear.