A GLANCE AT THE WORLD.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume IV, Issue 185, 13 October 1876, Page 11

A GLANCE AT THE WORLD.

— ++ — In looking upon the state of the world at the present day a thoughtful Catholic must see much to sadden him. There has hardly ever been a time when the persecuting spirit that j ias from of old actuated the enemies of the ChuTch has been more active. In the capital of the Christian world — the city that it is sought to degrade from this proud position that it may become the metropolis o£ a mere third-rate power — the Vicar of Christ resides as a prisoner, while his estates are occupied and his revenues squandered by a profligate king, who, were he of less exalted rank, would be considered a fitting associate for the abandoned only. The property of the religious orders has been recklessly confiscated, and hundreds of innocent people of both sexes, many of them feeble through | advanced age, have been ruthlessly cast upon the streets to swell the ranks of the starving, already swollen far beyond their usual limits by the fault of a careless and improvident Government. The members of secret societies and various conspirators continue their deadly plots, so that from day to day we cannot be sure of the Holy Father's safety, since his life n>ay be sacrificed at any moment to an outburst of the fury that we know surrounds his palace, thirsting for his blood : and, in short, from having presented an appearance consistent with its great Christian reputation Rome is rapidly approaching the condition of a Pandemonium. And as it fares with the head so is it elsewhere. Generally throughout Europe the Church suffers in a greater or lesser degree ; whether we turn to Germany or Russia, to Switzerland, France, Belgium, or England, in every country we see the name of Catholic either made a cause for active persecution, or greeted by a strong party with opprobrium | and derision, and everywhere it is considered allowable to employ against the Church weapons that it would otherwise ; be thought disgraceful to make use of. I In these new countries, where the boast is that a fair field \ lies open to the enterprise of all, and that men need not | struggle upwards in life at the expense of their neighbours, ' it might reasonably be supposed that Catholics would be as free as other people to pursue the even tenor of their way without let or hinderauce. But is it so? Far otherwise. A • cunning plan has been devised to attack us in a most vulner'W>le and tender point ; through the faith of our children, which it is sought to pervert by means of unjust and tyrannical educational regulations, so that, were we not on the alert and prepared to make grave sacrifices to avert the evil, we should be robbed of that which every man has a right to expect, and which nature itself teaches us to prize dearly, the love and respect of our offspring, who would be taught to regard and despise us as the besotted disciples of a false and superstitious creed : for such do her enemies, in their most deplorable ignorance and pitiable folly, consider the Church of the living God to be. And, further, we are molested on every side by the tongue of calumny, for to lie concerning anything Catholic ia not considered libellous. Our characters are public property, and all may blacken them with impunity ; nay, more — with the loudly-expressed applause of a bigoted majority to hound the slanderers on. We are then justified in saying that in the world of the present day there is much to sadden every thoughtful Catholic. But yet there is nothing to drive him to despair. His faith teaches him that the Church cannot perish, and, if he cast his eyes back upon the page of history, he will see that

from each persecution the Bride of the Lamb has emerged triumphant, and that many times her enemies have themselves become her most devoted members. " The Church is ever militant," says Dr. Newman, "sometimes she gains, sometimes she loses; and more often she 13 at once gaining and losing in different parts of her territory. What is ecclesiastical history but a record of the ever- doubtful fortune of the battle, though its issue is not doubtful ? Scarcely are we singing Te Deurn, when we have to turn to our Misereres ; — scarcely are we in peace, when we are in persecution; — scarcely have we gained a triumph, when we are visited by a scandal. Nay, we make progress by means of reverses ; our griefs are our consolations — we lose Stephen to gain Paul, and Matthias replaces the traitor Judas.