AN OMINOUS CHANGE.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 2671, 24 August 1889, Page 6 (Supplement)

AN OMINOUS CHANGE.

The Roman Catholics are experiencing great difficulty in inducing men to attend church, and in New York city the Fanlist Fathers have adopted an expedient which promises to be useful for this special purpose, but probably also will accomplish other results, some of which may not be so desirable from the point of view of the authorities. They are dispensing with the use. of Latin iu their services, except at the mass itself, in which its use is ompulsory, we believe. This substitution of Kiiglish for an unknown tongue is sensible and commendable, in itself considered. But it is an important concession to that growing .spirit among the Uomaii Catholic laity whioli criticises and condemns this un-American character and ttiidoiicy of much which the Roman Catholic Church, as such, regards as more oi" less essential. It is an acknowledgment that the conditions of society here are so dilFernnt from those which exist elsewhere, in Italy, for example, that the ancient usage of the Church must be modilied greatly in order to meet the popular demand. This is an admission which it is ominous for that Church to make, and it may prove to be only an entering wedge, preparing the way for even greater changes.—Congregationalist U.S.A.)