Robert settled back comfortably in his chair, his nervousness entirely gone.
“Well, what do you think of him?” asked McCall with a smile.
“Well, I’ll bet he makes religion attractive.”
“Certainly! Why shouldn’t it be? It ought to be the most sublime thing in the world.” They laughed at the accidental use of the word “sublime.” “I look at religion as the most beautiful symbolism in life. I couldn’t worship in an ugly church or under the guidance of a cold and narrow minister or priest.”
Father Callahan appeared in the doorway, his ruddy face smiling and his merry blue eyes sparkling. A servant followed, bearing a small tray on which were three small glasses of red wine and a plate of cake. The latter placed the tray on the table and the priest offered the glasses, invoked a blessing on the food and drink, and took a swallow.
“Ah! Now,” he said, “the really very silly notion that allegiance to the Pope interferes with the loyalty any citizen owes his country, has been exploded a long time ago and is used by no one save a few bigots who do not themselves credit the nonsense they utter. It is really remarkable how such ideas linger, yet I notice that this forms the real basis of the Tribe’s opposition to the Catholic as such. Of course, the church is Catholic and its missionaries go forth to all lands seeking converts. Every human being, we believe, has a soul, and before God all souls are equal. The Church of Christ is not ashamed that many of its members are of the eastern and southern European countries, whose immigrants at present may be regarded as undesirable by American statesmen. We rather take pride that the church has considered the soul of no man unworthy of saving. Our statesmen can probably best determine which elements are most needed in making up the population of the United States. But the church maintains that the desirability of no man as a citizen is ever diminished by his belonging to the Catholic church.
“A man can be a good subject either of a republic or a monarchy and, at the same time, be a devoted adherent of the Holy See. Even non-believers in Catholic doctrine have come to recognize that the better Catholic an individual is, the better citizen he therefore becomes of the country in which he lives.”
Father Callahan took a bite of cake and another swallow of wine.
“The old absurdity,” he went on, “of owing allegiance to a foreign potentate, which was the charge made against American Catholics in Know Nothing times, has been rarely heard and would have been relegated to that obscurity which it deserves except for the sudden rise of the Trick Track Tribe. Spiritual allegiance to the Pope will never interfere with the duties an honest state exacts from its citizens, but, on the contrary, will inspire each citizen to perform his duties better and more conscientiously. But you must have some more cake. That’s right.”
The priest rose, walked to a bookcase and, after studying it a minute, pulled out a volume.