CANON LAW

Evening Post, Volume XCIII, Issue 47, 23 February 1917, Page 7

CANON LAW

the Clergy and the War

l 3 THE EDITOR:

.Sif;=AT6;tHS Iteman .GatnoiicieafiGrsj Is professed patriots; playing tK6 game" in this crisis of bur Dominion's aiid 6f omy Empires' nisißJy ? f jiave almost, siiicere "reitpci id? tlig rank and Hie. 61 the Roman Catholic' community; fcii'ey are' second Id hone in patriotism; but I confess I arii becoming pjr§ and mSre perplexed sit tfe actions" &f their leaders-. OUi' Empii'g js engaged ail a life aM death struggk, and our Dominion is summoned to givs te, its utmost iiieii and money to ensure a Victorious and lasting peace. The situation in pur Dominionlcalls for » -suspension of all internal strife and for a tnlce &f Gad_,svitll i-e= gAi'd to educational), politica-l, and other differences, : We have a Coalition Crovemmsut, and patty political Strife is not seen in the land, , Reform agitators of various kinds are not ab. Work to=day as x thcy were in times of pence. But the Roman Catholic leaders ha.vs refused to profit by the good example thus set before them. The war has made no difference to thorn in their agitation for money grants to their schools. Pulpit, references and week-day resolutions for this end are '.'still "I'll c- 1 order for the day. An eloquent lecturer is brought over from Victoria to fan into a. white heo.t the agitation, and our .' legislators are hectored: and lectured on this question. This whole agitation is entirely out of place ; to-day, but .the Roman Catholic leaders,, refuse to see it. They might as well expect the moon to fall into their laps, at their request, as expect our New Zealand Parliament at , this crisis- to. legislate in their interest. This agitation, however, does its evil work by wasting .iihe energy of- people who otherwise would be better employed." ' The action . of the . Roman Catholic, leaders in relation to the-ballot for soldiers is hardly that of playing .the game. They object to the, teachers in their schools nnd to the students of the priesthood being called up to'fight. They;know that the people who have been ruined, enslaved, robbed, murdered, in Prance and Belgium' are of their own religious kith and kin, and they know that.our New Zealand, teachers from' State'and private schools and '.tlaeological. students from several. Churches have 'goffiOarth to fight for those- that are downtrodden, and yet they object to their own students and teachers going!-', Is it playing';'the game to allow , Protestant teachers . and Protestant students to suffer and die' for oppressed Roman Catholics-' in Prance and Belgium, and to hinder New Zealand i Roman Catholic students '■ and teachers from making the same sacrifice? To say that canon law stands in the way of those students and teachers.is simply fudge. If any dispensing' power is heeded to free those enforced shirkers; 1 that power is.in the hands'. of; the,' Roman leaders in this Dominion, and ■ there is no Church that has so large a body of women .workers who could fill the places of the teachers. ■ . •■ ■[

The Roman Catholic leaders are* not playing the game in denouncing the ballot that calls up a priest here and there as an engine of persecution. Every intelligent citizen knew that our so-called Conscription Act .wonld operate, impartially, and'the^ Military Board will see that'exemption will be given to every man that is entitled to, it, but it is absurd to say that our ..British'-law, our Dominion law, should be declared' ultra' vires because it does not square with * canon law! We have no more to do with canon law than I we have to do with Chinese law, and the Roman Catholics of New Zealand are as little under the operation of canon law as they are un^er the operation of Chinese law. ,i Has '"caino'h". la\v; ?yer. been officially proclaimed .in; Nevy;Zealand as part of the constitution of the Roman Catholic Church here? It never, has. I trust that the next.Roman Catholic leader that conies before our Military Board who cites" canon law will be asked the following questions: (lj Will you produce canon law so that we may.check your quotations? (2) Will you say-when "canon .law was made binding "by official "promulgation on . priests and, people in New Zealand? (3)-Will you say if any.njirt of canon law was promulgated, and will you .specify such : parts? i : 1.-It' seems.also . absurd to make out that the dead hand of Charlemagne, controls the Roman Catholic priests of New Zealand to-day. I do not wish to detract from'the greatness of this Kaiser of a bygone age. But what about his goodness? ''His ideas,of sexual morality were primitive;. Many concubines :are spoken of; he had several illegitimate: children, and the morals, of his daughters were very loose." (Encyclopaedia Britannica, Vol. 5, p. 893," 11th edition.) I trust that the Military Board will give respectful consideration to.the wishes of Roman Archbishops or "Bishops with regard.to exemption of priests, but canon law and Charlemagne may very ■well be ignored by the board. It is not playing the game to besmirch our French Ally by representing her as specially anti-Christian as a nation. A separate military law was passed in 1904, which ended an extensive system of exemption' from service. Every. Frenchman,'..if, he was physically fit, must serve. 'Probably, it is.'due to this law that France, in,this -war has: not the worthless, useless, paper army" she , had in 1870;— I am, etc.; ■"> ■ ! A PATRIOT, 22nd February... '."''. ... ': [In support of his statements regarding France, our correspondent reviews the religious events in that country, but. as reiteration .of these matters cannot at the present stage serve any useful j purpose, and is calculated to provoke a prolonged controversy, ■ ,we have excised the.latter part of the correspondent's comments. The main issue is of national importance, and. we, have .given in the columns of The Post a fair, and. impartial presentation of . correspondents' opinions on the. general, principles^' Anything likely to "stir up religious prejudices at the present crisis .'is; to be deprecated. We desire to impress" this fact on all'cori'espoiideiitSv---Ed.] ":