S,14
NO. 2,905.
hr Tafrera PERTH, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 7, 1935.
PRICE THREEPENCE.
Archbishop Downey Exposes Christian Science
Functions of Doctor and Priest Confused NO PLACE IN THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY The Latholic attitude to the modern vogue vaguely described as "Spiritual Healing" was expounded by Archbishop Downey in a sermon to Catholic medical men in the Liverpool Pro-Cathedral recently. His Grace's words are invested with an added importance by the recent propaganda for Christian Science that has appeared in the evening Press. Dr.- Downey described "the "Spiritual Healing" vogue as part of the general reaction away from the Materialism of the 19:h. century. ,'Ihere never was a ministry of helping in the Church at all," said His Grace, -and there is nothing in the New :festainent to indicate that Christ es tablished such a ministry." Our Lord's miracles were apologetical in character, as also were the miracles of the Apostles. Throughout the ages, he continued, many Saints had possessed the power of healing, and possibly there were men and women who possessed it to-day, but it had never pertained to the official ministry of the Church. The efficacy of the Sacraments, of prayer and of .pilgrimages in restoring bodily health was within the experience of all, said DrDowney, hut the functions of the priest and the doctor must not be confused. The priest's business is primarily with the soul; bodily healing is in safe hands when left to the medical profession. A fter declaring that there was nu three. ,ontact between the provinces of science and religion, and consequently there could not be either conflict on the. one hand or coalescence on the other, Archbishop Downey said the present tendency towards fusing the functions of the two was strikingly illustrated in the vogue enjoyed by what vas vaguely described as "Spiritual Healing.' The movement, he said, was doubtless part of the general reaction away from the materialism of the 19th. century, and it had become sufficiently widespread to merit serious attention. Inconsistencies. The advocates of Spiritual Healing, said Dr. Downey, were of many schools. In the first Place there were those who assured us that they were striving to bring about the restoration of the Ministry of Healing which existed in the early Church, but had since fallen into abeyance. " They take their stand on the XIIth. Chapter of St. Paul's first epistle to the Corinthians," said His Grace, "in which the Apostle describes the various spiritual gifts enjoyed by Christians at that time, and among'st them 'the grace of healing in one spirit.' If the exponents of this view Were consistent they would seek to revive also the ministry of div,erse tongues, and of interpreta1\.n, and of discerning spirits Which are, according to St. Paul, all ing. fours with the gift of healne‘v‘As a matter of fact there ton er was a ministry of diverse of interpretation, or of gues, or . Iscernina. tual hea rm g. spirits, or of spiriCatholic exegetes are all aoreed that it/ the difficult haPtel : c' ited St. Paul is describial personal powers s\pv7re given Christiang to some of the on account of the
Stock and Share Broker,
exigencies of the times, but cer-t ainly not permanent endowments of the Church of Christ. "In other words, there never was a ministry of healing in the Church at all. No Scriptural Evidence. "The miracles wrought by Christ were apologetical in character. He says: 'If you will not b elieve in Me, believe My So too were the mirworks.' acles of the Apostles. They are called 'signs' because they were motives of credibility. There is nothing whatever in the New Testament to indicate that Christ established a permanent ministry of healing. "Throughout the ages many saints have possessed this power, and possibly there are men and women who possess it to-day, but it has never pertaincd to the offiial ministry of the Church as "There were other exponents," c ontinued the Archbishop, "who
The Bogey of Maternal Mortality QUINTUPLETS' DOCTOR SCOUTS SCAREMONGERS Sensible Words on Motherhood The simple Catholic country doctor, Dr. Allan Roy Dafoe, who was responsible for saying the lives of the famous Dionne quintuplets, has become almost _ as celebrated as the five babies themselves, but he has not allowed his head to get turned. When he was brought to New York he said some very straightforward and sensible things about life there and the wonders :that he was shown, and his articles on "Babies" in a New York publication are a refreshing change from some of the things about babies and their care that appear nowadays in popular publications. In one of these articles he has some wise words on "Motherhood": claimed for themselves all the povers ot healing exercised by uur Lord and Inc Apostles on the strength of the well-known text in the epistle of St. James CV., 14), which in the Authorised \:ersion reads: 'Is any man sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.' "In the Douay Version we read 'priests' for and the text is taken br Catholics to le-. fer to the Sacrament of Extreme Unction. However I think it will be generally conceded that the word 'elders' is not intended to designate people who are innocent of the first principles of both medicine and theology. On what medical or biblical principle this class of faith-healer omits the anointing with oil in the name of the Lord from the treatment is best known to themselves, "It must be admitted that this school is somewhat free and easy in its handling of ,,the text of St. James. The Doctor's Function. "The efficacy of the sacraments and more particularly of the sacrament of Extreme Unction, of prayer and of pilgrimage, in restoring bodily health was within the experience of us all," concluded His Grace. Nevertheless the functions of the priest and of the doctor ought not to be confused. "On a sick call it is the plain duty of the priest to perform his spiritual office and advise the sick man, if he has not already done so, to summon medical aid for the body." The priest's business was with the soul only in a seondary and indirect manner with the body. Christ's Kingdom was not of this world, and bodily healing was in safe hands Nvh en left to the medical profession,
ustralian Chambers, 104 St. George's Terr.
"Of all the cowards about life, the healthy woman afraid to bear children is the most pitiable and the most punished. If only today's wives, otherwise normal, would stop being scared of the best and most natural thing that can happen to them! -Too much can be made of certain widely quoted figures on maternal mortality. -While the problem is getting earnest attention frgim doctors themselves, through their medical - associations in New York and elsewhere, the actual statistics ought not to be printed without careful preparation. "To say, for example, that 15,000 mothers die annually makes the business of having a baby sound pretty dangerous. But this very 'computation is swelled by the inclusion of all the deaths which occurred not while women were trying to have babies, but while they were trying to avoid having them. "It is right to focus attention on measures to safeguard maternity, but too much alarmist talk frightens women. If only they would realise that there is nothing to dread about the natural function of birth! A normal woman, under proper medical care and supervision, should feel no fear of the process. "Probably as much suffering and danger, in the long run, is :xperienced by women who can have children but refuse to have them as by the mothers of the race. Methods employed to ayoid maternity often not only injure health but imperil _life. "Nature, moreover, says that a woman was made to bear. The really dangerous adventure is for her to go against nature, deliberately and of her own free will. for nature has a way of taking revenge. "The woman who can have babies and refrains through timidity should 'take heed lest a worst thing befall.' Her nerves and emotional stability can be so adversely affected that as a re suit she becomes neurasthenic, pathologically irritable, even de ranged. "On the contrary, the woman who brings life into the world, nurses it, cares for it, finds that her whole personality is vitalised and enriched. Having a baby. instead of being a menan.ce to her health and happiness. is the natural stimulation of both."
Tel. 82873. Cables and Telegrams,`INVESTMENT" Perth