THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2546, 24 August 1893, Page 3

THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM.

THE ATTITUDE OF CATHOLICS. (From the Otago Daily Times correspondent.) San Francisco, July 22. Monsignor Satolli has been on a visit to this city. Of course he was interviewed, and he frankly gave his views upon matters of public moment. He confirms the interpretation placed upon the Pope’s encyclical by those whose sympathies are antagonistic to the pronounced opponents of the public school system. The following are the chief portions of the interview ;

“ You have doubtless read the latest Papal encyclical ? It simply confirms the decrees of the Council of Baltimore. It wag on those decrees as I interpreted them that I rendered a decision in the Faribault school controversy. The Holy Father now confirms the decrees as I interpreted them, and I believe they are now pretty generally understood.” <c Is it then obligatory on the Catholics to send their children to Catholics schools ?” “ Where Catholic schools are established of a grade equal to that of the public schools all Catholics will be expected to send their children to the Church schools, but there is no compulsion about it. It is left to the ordinary to decide. In special oases Catholic children may attend the public schools, provided they are taught their own religion in some way, by parent, priest, or otherwise, this teaching being always kept sacredly in view.” “ Will this tend to decrease the number of the children in public schools “ That is more than I can say. Time can only tell. Our only idea is + o’nave 0 ’ nave our children educated, nQt t 0“ a q ow them to fall short the necessary traffics iu their QWII re iigi on( The Catholic ’ .jurch believes in education, the highest education in all secular branches, but it also believes that the heart of the child should be equally well trained at the same time. Religious education should go with and form part of a complete education. Thus, whenever a parochial school can be maintained on a par with the public school it is much preferable, because to a secular education there is added religious training. But when from poverty or fewness, and being scattered in numbers a Catholic congregation cannot support parochial schools of equal merit with the public school alongside qf them an exception must be made to the rule, and if the Bishop can make some sort of arrangement whereby the religious

part of tho education of such children may be taken care of outside the hours for secular education he is authorised to do so.”

“ Was not that the plan suggested at Fairbault 1”

“ The plan suggested by Archishop Ireland in connection with the school at Fairbault was that an arrangement be made with the school board whereby religious instruction may be imparted to the Catholic children of the public school in the school house after the regular sessions have adjourned. It is too extreme a view. The Pope is liberal in this, for he says, * Let the child have the best secular education it can get,’ and he says to the bishop, the priest, and the parent, ‘ Manage tho matter in some way, which you can by exerting yourselves, so that the faith is taught the child any way. Teach the faith to the children, but in your methods of doing so adapt yourselves to the necessities of your surroundings.’ ” “ Is this view now generally accepted throughout the United States ?” “ The Holy Father’s letter has ended the entire subject. There was no controversy. It was a difference in the interpretation of the decrees of the council. The Holy Father has established the intrepretation, and the matter is all settled.”

The points noticeable in the ablegate’s replies are: 1. That the confirmation of the decrees of the Council of Baltimore by the Pope was given in accordance with Satolli’s interpretation of them. 2. There is to be no compulsion exercised if Catholic parents decide not to send their children to the Church schools. 3. Public schools may be used by them. 4. If there was no controversy, there was, at least, a difference of opinion—a term that may be used to cover- a great deal of acrimony. And these positions merely confirm the archbishop’s sentiments as originally given before his brethren in New York last year. On that occasion he declared—“ There is no repugnance in their [youth’s] learning the first elements and the higher branches of the arts and natural sciences in public schools controlled by the State ” ; that “ the Catholic Church in general, and especially the Holy See, far from condemning or treating with- indifference the public schools, desires rather that, by the joint connection of civil and ecclesiastical authorities, there should be public schools in every statethat“ it is left to the judgment and wisdom of the ordinaries to decide whether in a certain part of their respective dioceses a parochial school can be bnilt and kept up in a fitting manner not inferior to the public schools, taking into consideration the temporal condition of the parents while the graver needs of procuring their spiritual welfare and the decent support of the Church are pressing.” I think it will be admitted that so far as Satolli’s addresses, interviews, and interpretations are concerned, coupled with the Papal encyclical, forwarded in my last mail, a distinctly advanced position has been taken if we compare it with the views of other Roman Catholic priests in various parts of the world. Whether this liberal tendency is genuine, or merely assumed on the grounds of policy, I cannot say. We are, in the absence of direct testimony, justified in assuming the concessions are in reality what they outwardly seem to be. The question of their sincerity must be left to the judgment of the intelligent and thoughtful as individuals.