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40.
PUBLISHED WEEKLY.
ADDRESS: BOX 3633. G.P.O.
PHONE B5447
Official Organ of the Archdiocese of Perth A CATHOLIC WEEKLY CIROTTLATING ESTABLISHED 1874. Registered at the G.P.O., Perth, for THROUGHOUT THE STATE OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA. Transmission by Post as a Newspaper. PRICE THREEPENCE
No. 2,821
PERTH, SATURDAY, MAY 12, 1934
Vol. LX.
French Hierarchy and the Recent Scandals LIGHT ON CONTEMPORARY MORALS A joint pastoral letter, signed by all will lead and such as they have loved, and is the members of the I renal h ierarchy for narmalsurely to decay and to death, refers to the recent public scandals love and family life alone, with a true none else but the moral teaching of the the sweetness of life that it Gospel and of our holy religion!" which have caused so much anxiety gua rds, can and distress in Fianse, and discusses from whichremedy the two great evils Mixed Schools. the country suffers—the some evils of the day that call for im- declin The next point they deal with is the e in the birth-rate and the viomediate attention. question of mixed schools for grown lent contest between classes." The Bishops, io their reference to the pupils of both sexes. recent scandals - which have thrown Needs of Children. "These new institutions have raised such a lurid light on contemporary The Bishops then deal with the a grave problem of a moral order. morals," and the bloodshed during the schools, the mission The morality of child/en is at stake of riots, state that France intist not be guides the destinies of which directly Here is the Catholic teaching: the country. discouraged, for she has risen above "We would betray our pastoral mis"1) The moral law teaches that the greater trials and attained victory. sion if we did not recall prolonged juxtaposi The exceptional gravity of these teaching of the Church the tiaditional both sexes at the tion of children of time when passions on two chief events, however, unposes upon the peo- points. The child. are awakening ple a serious duty oi examining their infinitely worthy says the Church. is which must be constitutes a danger strictly guarded against. of respect. By its consciences. They appeal to all, for nature and Those who have directly or indirectly the sake of the land they love, to be son of God. destiny the child is the The child cannot be the the charge of these young souls are 4 prepared to make sacrifices so that playth ing of political contests, nor be a bound in conscience to take precau F rance may fulfil God's designs. mere object of experiment. tions which will be able to remove the Pointing to the lessons to be drawn "The children, not being able to help danger or lessen it. from the crisis, they observe that one themselve "(2) If these precautions are not taks, ask us for bread—bread for cannot violate witli impunity the laws the soul as well as for the body. The en those who have the charge of these which God and nature have imposed bread which we must give them must souls must. in the full measure of their On man's activities. Just as the waters he beyond all suspicion. We must power, prevent prolonged propinquity of rivers are protected by banks which of itself is dangerous to virtue. give so, them the morality of the Gospels too, are the currents of life protected the old and good morality of our "(3) If. in spite of these precautions as long as they remain in the right fathers before us, with its divine fours or because these precautions are insuffichannel. The confined waters preserve dation. with its helps and sanctions, for cient. the children are in fact gravely their purity and benericien ce., but when no other moral teaching can replace it exposd to moral perversion, there is a breaches are made grave obligation to withdraw them them and disease is impurities invade What service would be rendered to our spread. 'from country, the danger. what pledge a of union and of This image exaetly reproduces the peace from all Frenchmen, .if in all our Condemned by the Pope. Present circumstances of society: the schools was taught the moral teaching "The conclusion to be drawn is that Protecting banks which the Church had of our fathers. ,iich as they have had the,c mixed chools. where pupils of built up have in part been destroyed by sacrilegious hands. Foundations Shaken. "Conscience," the letter declares. longer regarded as the voice of God, hut a purely human origin,hereditary habit of purely and justified only by its The helplessness oi actors and the der, teliing Catholics that they are as usefulness. fdried up at Thus the moral life is power of Catholic people to purge film much to blame for encouraging filth as its source, and the very productions of the filth and indecency, anyone else, by stimulating the oundations of box society w hich is so rampant, -is told in a letoffice with their dollars, and that Our first duty is to are shaken. give to our chi!. ter by an actor of Hollywood .publish- responsibility for future clean plays the dren and and preserve in ourselves a just, ed in the March issue of the "Ecclesiaspictures rests on their shoulders, we . conscience, unstinted in all its tical Review." duties, may hope that they will assume the faithful i responsibility and refuse to patronise tm if necessary. to the point of heroThe full text of the letter follows: The witness of a true the box office where standards of Chris onscience. our fathers said. is the tian decency are not respected. e oy of life. May we "To the Editor Ecciestica of 'The l Rehold to that truthj" , view." "The whole nation has gone mad In the second section. the Bishops "Apropos of I;ishop Cantwell's article, o ver a woman who interprets the distreat of the Christian family. the true 'Priests and the Motion Picture Indus- gusting role of a common harlot. Her antctuary pictures are frankly vile and largely where, under the aegis of try.' in the February number of the , c!nial unity and resented, if their popularity is any not indissolu bility. opportun Review, ask I nnstan for an ity to exHer income amounts to a spouses -love one another with press some views 'from the inside.' evidence. e love not staggering sum. How many Cathomerely of affecti(jn, but ve in which devOtion and the spirit 'I have been on the stage for some lic dollars could be found in it? sacrifice enter, and where their many years. hildr„ are Much of my time has been he "There are a few men and women brought up in the fear and spent in protesting against the degralovee of God. who rebel against appearing on the These sanctuaries of dation of the theatre and spoving picstage or screen in filth. But it is a tamilY uoed Pease and of happiness are the tures. I have been ridiculed and case of accept or starve. sousce of our natural It is appalqualities of laughed at by lay people as well as the ling to learn what aspiring men and erabon, economy and charity. people of my profession. Others have women have to tolerate in order to ?he Way i Decay. told me that I was wasting my time in "A man wi• th 13 out a home, or in a a fruitless battle: that Catholics will 'crash the gate,' as the vernacular troe inethat he does phrase indicates the situation. not love, is like a patronise the theatres and moving picwithout a every: "Can anyone measure the agony that root. at the mercy Of tures just as members of other churWind t members of the profes the first,Placehat blows. The home has ches do. when a filthy play or picture self-respecting in sion have suffered when the prospect c.ital" aect_ crees rthe designs of God and is produced. of actual want has forced them into oi nature. Under the ar• n.vs_t() , n of divorce and contempor"Unfortunately there is. I believe. pictures that were revolting to consciinor„ _unra.ls, this 'The ence and good taste? i i nta more beautiful institution is some truth in the statement. Sign.' in its issue of September. 1933. "We are helpless or nearly so, and falsified. that, ns of men and we make an appeal to the Catholic peowomen are made page 69. t a te s that Bishop Heela.n; of are osis aprice TY PrONiSiOna City, denounced a certain picture ple and the priesthood to help by posianq 'na the passion 1. subject to the atioiss a local theatre as immoral, and ad- tive and intelligent action to redeem of the moment, here the children are orphans in vised Catholics to refrain from attend- oar art from enslavement to lust and 1ifetjm I le of their father and mother. ance. His' letter was read in all of money, and to put the sign of Heaven tegard f"11 consequences of this die- tte churches of the diocese. upon it so that it may minister as it andoirinlf,7 life are i "T believe that if a statement is made should minister to the standards of t niniea t hey are checked ". f rom the pulpit right from the shout rhrictian decency." they
Motion Picture Immorality
41.4..410. 411.1. 4/. -4.4. 441.
4.41 .
4.40-40.
both sexes are on the same benches and us the same places of recreation. are a method of arriving at that co-education of the sexes which was condemned by the Pope and is opposed to Catholic moral teaching. "If these schools are established the legislators and the authorities who have charge of these schools, the parents and masters (and pastors), according to diocesan regulations, are to take precautions necessary both of a material and a moral code. If no precautions prove effective, then at any sacrifice the child's soul must be saved." In the next section the Bishops deal with the duty owed to the State, pointing out that the French must awaken in themselves a sense of duty and apply that in their private life as well as in their public life, and thus promote the interests of their fellow men. "For this work of restoration." they says, "the Church offers its incomparable resources to the country. You 1. no the spiritual riches of the Church. with which your life is wholly penetrated. You know that by its doctrine, its moral code, its sacraments and its multiple institutions, it enlightens your souls, purifies them, sanctifies them, and guides them. Such is the fundamental work of the Church, and in doing that work it forms at once good Christians and good citizens. But in the deposit which Our I,ord has entrusted to it, it has other riches—the family, the world of labour, the organisation of the State, the relations of people amongst themselves—all these are served by it, nothing escapes its mission, nothing escapes its influence. "In all these domains its teachings and actions are so productive of good it truly possesses what the Gospel cal% the verba vitae. "hi the present crisis at home and abroad is not the Church the guardian of liberty and of peace? On the one hand, in defining the rights and the duties of Governments and of citizsns, and, on the other, in emphasising the privacy of human personality, it defends us against excessive `stat:sm' and against anarchy, assuring, at the same time, a wise liberty and true civiiisation. "To a world distraught, the Church. like a kind mother. offers its entire de• votion and paternal love with the great and noble resources with which God has entrusted it. "May our clear country understand better that to restore its moral life and power and to correspond to all that other people expect of it, nothing will he more useful than the union of the Catholic clergy and the faithful. You will effect this union by your ardent frequent prayers. be your example and by your charity: by your desire to comfort and to help all those who suffer. all those who endure hardships. and by your unshakeable confidence in the destinies of our dear land. "It is necessary to add that for this great work of restoration demanded by God you must repudiate licence in dress and in morals, which in these lat. ter times lead us to the risk of compromising the good taste, the dignity and the moral bearing of which our Cnt'llttV was AlWaVe er rrolir1"