But, unhappily, in these latter days certain elements have been imported
into men's conceptions of progress, of which the Catholic Church is the
stern and uncompromising foe. In so far as the advocates of modern
progress aim at the destruction of those Christian principles of conduct
which should influence the individual man in his relations to himself,
to the family, and to the State, they may expect unceasing opposition
from the Catholic Church.
In some respects the Church does not consider modern progress,
so-called, as progress in the true sense of the word, but rather a
retrograde movement--a relapse into the moral corruption, the political
and social degradation of ancient paganism. When a man finds himself
moving forward at a rapid pace along a road which he discovers to be a
wrong one, he is only moving farther away from the end of his journey;
he cannot be said to be making progress. Or, when a man is sick of a
deadly disease, which is rapidly gaining ground, it cannot be said that
he is progressing, since such progress leads to death, not life.
In certain European countries at the present day, advocates of progress
insist that the Church should adapt herself to the spirit of the age,
and would fain transform her into a mere creature of the civil
government, a sort of moral police under its pay and control, or to use
the illustration of Cardinal Newman, employ her as a pet jackdaw, useful
for picking up the grubs and worms on its master's trim, smooth-shaven
lawn.
The Church, however, will not surrender her independence, nor will she
change her doctrines to suit the shifting, fallible opinions of men. Her
mission is to hold pure from all taint of error, and transmit unimpaired
to future generations the word of her master: "Guard that which is
entrusted to thee, turning away from the profane babblings and
oppositions of knowledge falsely so called."
The Church is opposed to modern progress in so far as it seeks to rob
Christian marriage of its sacramental character, and reduce it to the
level of a mere contract, which may be dissolved at the will of the
contracting parties.
She is opposed to the divorce of religion from education, holding that
the development of man's moral and intellectual nature, should go hand
in hand. Indeed, among ourselves of late, many serious-minded persons
seem to be coming round to the Church's way of thinking on this
important matter. They are exerting themselves to find some substitute
for religion in the moral training of children, and profess to have
discovered it in a knowledge of the elements of physiology. A text-book
of this science, which will clearly impress on the youthful mind the
dire fattening qualities of alcohol is the _unum necessarium_. It is
fondly hoped that the natural horror which one experiences at the
thought of an accumulation of adipose tissue in the intestines will be
quite sufficient to deter the rising generation from the use of
alcoholic stimulants.
This, however, is only taking a limited view of the matter, for humanity
may be conceived as divided into two classes, the fat and the lean.
This latter class constitutes a large percentage of the world's
population; and in their case the temptation is great of falling back on
alcohol as an excellent substitute for padding, forswearing thin
potations and addicting themselves to sack.
Furthermore men of science inform us that, owing to the conditions of
our environment, climatic and otherwise, there is a tendency among
Americans, after a few generations, to develop into a type of man,
similar to the Red Indian, tall, muscular, gaunt. If this is so, have we
not cause to apprehend the universal use of alcohol as a means of
counteracting such a deplorable tendency. We respectfully refer these
considerations to the serious attention of those who would place the
science of morals on a physiological basis.
Finally then, the only progress which the Catholic Church upholds is
that which rests on the foundations, everlasting and unchanging as
adamant, of Christian truth and Christian morality. A fair and goodly
tree, the higher it grows, the more widely it expands, the deeper must
it cast its roots into the ground, if it would not come toppling down
and cumber the earth. So must the roots of modern progress strike
themselves more and more deeply into the soil of the Christian virtues,
that its fine growth of material well-being may not drag down the fair
tree, and only serve to hasten its speedy disappearance in corruption
and death.