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Shelby County |
CHAPTER XVII. - CATHOLIC CHURCHES, MISSIONS AND PRIESTS. (CONT'D)ON THE PURPOSE OF THE KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS AND FRATERNAL SOCIETIES.
Rev. Father Hummert, during his long and very active pastorate in Shelby county, entered heartily into the social life of his people and was and is greatly beloved by them. In view of the fact that there has lately been established at Earling, Iowa, a local council of the Knights of Columbus, the following letter, written to and concerning members of this organization, by Rev. Father Hummert, is of much interest and throws much light upon the faith of this priest in democracy and in his church: "Before joining the organization of the Knights of Columbus, I often reflected, and argued with friends, what might be the real purpose of this new order. After joining I was still in a quandary, and set about to study, what should be the purpose, and give what few ideas presented themselves for publication. Every organization that wishes to last must have some real live purpose, otherwise its members, after their curiosity has been satisfied, and the novelty worn off, will gradually drop, especially if there is much expense to the society. "The church is a society and has been established by its Divine Founder to save souls. How well it has been true to its purpose, and the success it has achieved in its efforts, is clearly shown in its glorious history of the last nineteen centuries. Other societies are organized for fun and amusements, and others for business. Labor unions are organized to protect the various interests of the different classes of laboring men. Some societies are organized to rule and govern the affairs of the world, and they generally keep all their doings very secret. They aim to rule and control the governments of the different countries, and to enable them to do so, they try to get control of the power of the daily press. When they have the power of the press, it becomes easy for them to manage the votes of the people, and to hold their representatives in office. They hold their members together, and manage to control one party. "The church derives its strength from the middle class. The laboring and small business men with their families fill the pews of our churches at divine service. The church is democratic. Its Founder was democratic, because He chose to be born in the stable of Bethlehem. He said, I sympathize with the multitude, they followed Him, and for them He performed various miracles. The kingdom of Heaven, He compared to a vineyard, whose laborers filled its realms. It was from the laboring class that the Divine Saviour selected His apostles, the pillars of His church. To the captains of industry and trust magnates, He said, that it was easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for them to enter the kingdom of Heaven. Every Christian should be a democrat, because Chris was democratic. "When our beloved country was in its infancy, most of its people believed in democratic principles, and men, who believed in these principles, like Washington, Adams and Jefferson, were the leaders and rulers of our Union. "It is the power of the press that divides the middle class into different parties, like democrats, social democrats, populists, etc., and by dividing them they manage to keep their own party in power. Laboring and small business men, who are at their work, day after day, from morn to sunset, are easily misled by newspapers with wrong principles. Even the higherups in our churches and professional men, who are democratic in sympathy are often misled by continuous reading of an inimical press. "What we need in this church today is newspapers, daily papers, that have at heard the interests of our Christian middle class, and will hold this class together in one party, and give them the daily news, that is for their interest and benefit. Official weeklies, that sail under the banner of faith, are more or less deficient, because every family wants a daily paper. There is hardly a doubt that most of our city dailies are in the hands of capitalists, and that they labor more for that party that is controlled by capitalists, and that most of them are owned and controlled by men, who are more in sympathy with societies, and themselves belong to societies, that are inimical to the society founded by our Divine Lord. "Would it then not be a noble purpose for the Knights of Columbus or any fraternal society, to use all their efforts and power to have in every city, where there is a council, a daily newspaper, whose principal aim and ambition it is to hold the middle class together in one party, so they would have strength to keep men in office, who would be good Christian men, and always have the interests of the Christian laboring men at heart. "This class of papers is sadly needed in our country today. If the Knights of Columbus, and every fraternal society, would take up this purpose, and drill it into their members at all their meetings, then the Knights of Columbus would have a purpose, and no doubt be able to do an immense amount of good. Would that every council in this, our glorious country, would take up this subject and debate it over from start to finish. What the Knights of Columbus need, as well as every fraternal society, is a real live purpose to work for. Do not be asleep, you are dying whilst you are sleeping. "REV. JOSEPH B. HUMMERT. "St. Joseph's Sanitarium, February, 1912."
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