A Word to Laymen.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXX, Issue 18, 1 May 1902, Page 1

A Word to Laymen.

There can be little doubt, we think, that however zealous and devoted our Catholic laity are in giving themselves to church work they are, in the matter of taking an active part in public aifairs, seriously behind hand and decidedly apt to hide their light under a bushel. There are some bright and highly creditable exceptions, it is true, but, on the whole, our laymen have a distinct tendency to keep themselves to themselves and to mrtgine that they have fulfilled the whole duty required of m m it they are faithful to their direct Church obligations and their religious duties. The result is that Catholics =ire apt to be looked upon as a somewhat neghgeable quantity in all that relates to public ait lirs, and thus we are deprived —or rather, we deprive ourselves —of our proper share of public weight and inilu< nee in the (.(immunity. As Archbishop Ireland, the most piogressive of American prelates, has put it: 'Men judge by what they see. If the Catholic laity remain on one side quiet, saying their prayers, no matter how well tKey say them, if they do nothing else, the country will move along without them; will move along without being influenced in the least by them ; will move along, believing that they are half dead, or believing that they take no interest whatsoever in the welfare of the mighty nation. And, if I do not mistake much, the American likes to see people at work for America. He likes to see tangible results, he likes a fair, courageous fighter, and if the Catholic laity of the country come forward with the full courage of their convictions, determined to do the be^t for their Church and for their country, he will say, " Well, you are a good fellow and you ought to have your lights ! " '

In this Colony Catholics have everything to gain and practically nothing to lose by coming into closer social and civil contact with the rest of the community. We have known it tried in more than one country town in New Zealand by priests as well as laymen the result in each case has been that, one by one, old-time prejudices against Catholics were broken down, and the Church has received a measure of fair treatment — -and indeed of generosity — 'from the local Protestant community which is not commonly her portion. There is redly no reason in the world why our various local bodies, our borough and county councils, our public literary societies

and public libraries, and all general humanitarian and reform movements should not have a fair share of the wholesome leaven of Catholic citizenship. The pointed words of Archbishop Ireland are as applicable to the Catholics of New Zealand as they were to the American laymen to whom they were addressed :—: — ' You must be public spirited, you must do your best, first of all, to show yourselves the most ardent Americans, the most devoted citizens, and you should be ready, if the opportunity offers, to put yourselves forward in public life, so as to be able to serve your country and to serve it honestly; and there should be no intellectual movement, there should be no literary club, there should be no moral reform movement going on in the country without Catholics being largely representative in the membership. I am discouraged whenever I find in any place a good movement for the betterment of humanity, for the elevation of citizens in general, when I discover one without Catholic names in the membership.'