[555] The Franciscan Sisters of the Perpetual Adoration, A History of the United States for Catholic Schools (Chicago, 1914), pp. 3-4.
[556] Ibid., pp. 5-6.
[557] Betten, The Ancient World, preface.
[558] “This much maligned priest [John Tetzel], personally of blameless character, undoubtedly went too far in his endeavors to procure financial success. He insisted indeed on the necessity of contrition and confession for all those who wished to obtain the remission of temporal punishment for themselves; but his teaching concerning the indulgence for the dead was not free from serious errors. To secure this benefit for a soul which has, of course, departed this life in the state of grace, nothing, according to him, is required but the alms. This doctrine, though at his time actually taught by some irresponsible preachers, has never been supported by ecclesiastical authority. Tetzel’s own brethren in religion openly reproached him for his ill-advised tactics, which soon became the talk of the whole country.” Betten and Kaufman, The Modern World, p. 376.
[559] “At least he [Martin Luther] imagined that he had made the discovery that the doctrine of the Church concerning the remission of sins was altogether wrong. He thereby implied that Christ, contrary to His solemn promise, had allowed the Church to fall into a most disastrous error. The new system, which gradually developed in Luther’s mind, confused the nature of sin with concupiscence, which is a consequence of original sin, and while it makes man inclined to sin is no sin in itself. By the sin of Adam, he thought human nature was corrupted beyond recovery; man’s acts can only be bad; but Jesus Christ covers the soul with His infinite merits, which, as it were, conceal all trespasses from the eye of the just God; if sinful man expresses his firm ‘belief’ in this merciful dispensation, God will not punish him, though the sin is not taken away, but merely covered; the sinner therefore remains a sinner;.... It is evident that such a justification is no justification at all, and it will always remain a riddle how Luther could maintain that he had found such a monstrous doctrine in the Bible.” Ibid., pp. 377-378.
[560] “The causes of the social evils are not only economic, but moral and religious as well. It is true that present economic conditions are far from satisfactory. Though production, on account of the introduction of machinery, has increased enormously, wages have not kept pace with that increase.... But the moral and religious causes are not to be overlooked. The breaking loose from practical Christianity, so characteristic of the last two centuries, has developed an intense selfishness, a struggle for wealth in which each one seeks his own material advantage at the expense of his neighbor.... What, then, are the remedies proposed by Catholics? Certainly not the adoption of Socialist views.... The Socialists deliberately ignore, yea exclude, religion from coöperation in the solution of the great social problem. They forget that man’s happiness here below is not his ultimate end, that the Creator did not want equal wealth and equal material advantages for all.... The state having at heart the temporal welfare of its citizens, should by wise legislation protect the workers, their health, and morals, and that of their family. But the change of hearts which is so necessary for the cure of modern evils is the principal task of religion. Hence the Church should be free to carry out her mission.” Ibid., pp. 630-641.
[561] Burke, E. J., Political Economy designed for use in Catholic Colleges, High Schools, and Academies (New York, 1913), p. 1. According to Bullock’s Elements of Economics, one textbook used in the public schools, “Economics is the science which deals with the efforts of mankind to secure the material commodities and personal services which are needed to support life and to make a civilized existence possible.” Bullock, Charles J., Elements of Economics (Boston, 1913), p. 4.
[562] Burke, op. cit., p. 57.
[563] Burke, op. cit., p. 386. Although “followers of the Catholic School do not deny that much of the evil existing in society is due to defective methods of distribution, they suggest no such drastic action as the Socialists.... They appeal to the influence of the Church’s teaching and the power of Christian doctrine to bring about a spirit of charity and justice in the mutual dealings of capitalists and labor.” Ibid., p. 392.
[564] Advertising pamphlet entitled “The Hospitality given Father Burke’s Political Economy.”