The Open court . The Heretics Death on the Fagots. Another weighty expression of the enlightened spirit that mani-fests itself in certain quarters of the Roman Catholic Church comesfrom the lips of DeConaty, the new rector of the Catholic Univer-sity at Washington, who on the occasion of his inauguration incul-cated the principles of the religion of science, saying : Let the watchword of the Catholic university be, Revelation and science,religion and patriotism, God and our country. . Truth is one as God is one, whether it be sought for in the moral or scien-tific order. There is no secret in
The Open court . The Heretics Death on the Fagots. Another weighty expression of the enlightened spirit that mani-fests itself in certain quarters of the Roman Catholic Church comesfrom the lips of DeConaty, the new rector of the Catholic Univer-sity at Washington, who on the occasion of his inauguration incul-cated the principles of the religion of science, saying : Let the watchword of the Catholic university be, Revelation and science,religion and patriotism, God and our country. . Truth is one as God is one, whether it be sought for in the moral or scien-tific order. There is no secret in nature which can offer danger to truth. TheChurch has always blessed true science and blesses it every day. We could easily increase such quotations as these, which aresymptoms of a healthy spirit and show that there are men bold IS THE CHURCH RESPONSIBLE FOR THE INQUISITION? 233 enough to be impartial, just, and progressive. There is, however,a reverse to the medal, for narrowness and bigotry, too, find ex-. pression and like to parade before the public as the genuine expres-sions of the true Church. There are, for instance, many Roman 234 THE OPEN COURT. Catholic historians who still defend the inquisition and even witch-prosecution as justifiable,^ and even here in America a man rises indefence of this barbarous and irreligious institution. Mr. James in the Catholic Mirror (we find it reprinted in the DoininionReview) characterises the blessed times of the Spanish inquisitionin these words : The State made enactments and laws for government of its citizens; theChurch inspired and seasoned them with justice and wisdom. All the laws, then,had a tinge of Catholicity, and they were carried out in a manner savoring of theprinciples of that universal religion. Consequently, it is evident that one who wasa heretic then, was by that very fact in opposition to the spirit of the laws and cus-toms of his country—in other words, a disturber of the public peace, and an under-m
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade188, booksubjectreligion, bookyear1887
