Catholic Problems in Western Canada

by George Thomas Daly

Nowadays the relation of Public Opinion to the Catholic Church is, generally speaking, one of suspicion, frequently of silent contempt and very often of open hostility. This statement of fact may appear to many too sweeping; its broadness may trouble the peaceful faith of others. Yet, history and every day experience prove the truth of our assertion. We go further and claim that for the Church this condition will, and must exist. The Church, like Christ, her Founder and Master, is to be a "Sign of Contradiction." Her very name "Catholic" is a perennial witness to her sublime and admirable Catholicity, and thereby an abiding proof of her Divinity. A Church that modifies her tenets and adjusts her moral standards to accommodate herself to the conveniences and fancies of the world is not, and cannot be the Church of Christ. Now, as in the times of the Apostles, the Church "Is a Sect that is everywhere spoken against"—"If ye were of the world?" said the Saviour, "the world would love his own; but ye are not of this world, therefore the world hateth you." Yes, suspicion, contempt and hostility are the hall-marks of historic Christianity, for they are the realization of Christ's promises to His Church, the fulfilment of His prophesies. This fact for a Christian who has eyes to see, and ears to hear, is particularly noticeable when periodically a tidal wave of bigotry or open persecution strikes the Catholic Church, lashes itself into fury, washes the Rock of Peter with ugly foam . . . and dies away, ashamed of its own powerlessness and unfairness.

Viewing this relation of Public Opinion to the Catholic Church—not as an evidence of that spiritual conflict, often unconscious but ever real—but as a fact, a historic reality, some may ask the proof of our rather bold statement. Even those who are not of our Faith, and yet always wish to be fair and broad in their dealings with the Catholic Church, may question it.

The proof is very simple to give. Public Opinion is against the
Catholic Church, because the powers that create and maintain Public
Opinion are against the Catholic Church. Facts here speak for
themselves.

The Press—the Novel—the Periodical Literature—the Cinema—the Stage—the Public School—the Academy and University Halls—the Legislative Assemblies . . . are without doubt the high voltage-wires that receive, carry and distribute the current of Public Opinion. Or rather, like the wireless stations they gather those invisible and imponderable waves of thought and feeling that are ever flashing through the intellectual and moral atmosphere of nations, and translate their message to the masses. Between these powers and Public Opinion there is a continuous action and reaction. They are at the same time the moulders and mirrors of Public Opinion. They are its masters, but with the condition of being first its servants.

Of all these creative forces none is greater and more universal than the Press. If Public Opinion is the king and master of the modern world, the Press is assuredly his faithful and most active Prime Minister. This chief executive has extended the kingdom of his master to the very confines of the civilized world. Nothing has contributed more to the rule of Public Opinion than the Press. With it ideas and opinions run through the public mind as rapidly as the dispatches that carry them. "Mental touch is no longer bound up with physical proximity. With the telegraph to collect and transmit the expressions and signs of the ruling mood, and the fast mail to hurry to the eager clutch of waiting thousands the still damp sheets of the morning daily, remote people are brought as it were into one another's presence." (Ross-Social Psychology.)

The ordinary man now sees the world through his newspaper. He absorbs facts and principles with the shades and variations the daily paper gives them. Reports of events and announcements of policies are colored to suit the aims and opinions of the editors and proprietors. Windy platitudes—at least for those who know facts and have studied principles—become gospel truth for the unthinking mass. Public Opinion is thus conscripted by an "irresponsible power." This irresponsibility of the Press is without doubt the greatest menace of the day. For, the opinions,—we mean to say—the propelling forces of the silent millions are at its mercy. . . . And these silent millions make and unmake the world.

This great power of the Press is inimical to the Catholic Church. By press, you will readily understand, we do not mean any particular paper, or a certain group of papers, but rather that formidable ensemble of tremendous financial backing, of world-wide information-services, of chains of papers that encircle the globe, of these various agencies that tap the telegraphic wires of every country and keep the cables hot. The Hearst papers alone reach simultaneously four or five million readers daily. From New York to San Francisco one man is leading the minds of these millions "to conclusions that he wants them to arrive at"—What Hearst is for the United States, Lord Northcliffe is for England.

This great press is against the Catholic Church. The total suppression of truths and of facts; the conspiracy of silence—often more dangerous than an open attack; the coloring of news with shades of thought suited to a definite purpose; the partial admission of truth and the maimed relation of facts; the bold assertion of deliberate falsehoods; the deceptive headlines—and the people live on headlines; the insinuating title which is often in flagrant contradiction to the dispatch it underlines:—these are a few of its various strategies of attack. "The Pope and the War," "Quebec and the War," "The Guelph Novitiate Incident," are recent instances of what we refer to.

Some may object that the Catholics are of a rather susceptible nature and always expect "privileges"—No, we only want the privileges of truth, we mean fair play, equality, and justice.

What we say of the Press can also be said of periodical literature and modern fiction. "The very nature of periodical literature," says Cardinal Newman, "broken into small wholes and demanded punctually to an hour involves the habit of extempore philosophy . . . and that philosophy, we know is not Christian philosophy. The writers can give no better guarantee for the philosophical truth of their principles than their popularity at the moment and their happy conformity in ethical character to the age which admires them."