CATHOLIC
452
CATHOLIC
joined the Church, which was fructifying and in-
creasing throughout the whole world. But he adds
that there will be always need and room for it still to
grow; and, after quoting Rom., x, 14, he adds: "In
those nations therefore among whom the Church is
not yet known it has still to find a place [in quibus
ergo" gentibus nondum est ecclesia, oportet ut sit],
not indeed in such a way that all who are there should
become believers; for it is all nations that are prom-
ised, not all the men of all nations. . . . Otherwise
how shall that prophecy be fulfilled, 'Ye shall be
hated by all for my name's sake', unless among all
nations there are those who hate as well as those who
are hated?"
Lastly, it should be said that among some confused thinkers of the Anglican communion, as also among certain representatives of Modernist opinions, an in- terpretation of the Catholicity of the Church has lately come into fashion which has little connexion with anything that has hitherto fallen under our no- tice. Starting with the conception familiar in such locutions as "a man of catholic tastes", meaning a man who excludes no rational interest from his sym- pathies, these writers would persuade us that a cath- olic church either does or should mean a church en- dowed with unlimited comprehensiveness, i. e. which is prepared to welcome and assimilate all opinions honestly held, however contradictory. To this it may be answered that the idea is absolutely foreign to the connotation of the phrase Catholic Church as we can trace it in the writings of the Fathers. To take a term consecrated by centuries of usage and to attach a brand-new meaning to it, of which those who through the ages had it constantly on their lips never dreamed, is to say the least extremely mislead- ing. If this comprehensiveness and elasticity of be- lief is regarded as a desirable quality, by all means let it have a new name of its own, but it is dishonest to leave the impression upon the ignorant or the credulous, that this is the idea which devout men in past ages have all along been groping for, and that it has been left to the religious thinkers of our own day to evolve from the name catholic its true and real significance. So far from the idea of a nebulous and absorbent substance imperceptibly shading off into the media which surround it, the conception of the Fathers was that the Catholic Church was cut off by the most clearly defined of lines from all that lay out- side. Its primary function, we might almost say, was to set itself in acute opposition to all that threatened its vital principle of unity and stability. It is true that patristic writers may sometimes play with the word catholic, and develop its etymological sugges- tiveness with an eye to erudition or edification, but the only connotation upon which they insist as a matter of serious import is the idea of diffusion throughout the world. St. Augustine, indeed, in his letter to Yineentius (Ep. xciii, in "Corpus Scrip. Eccles. Lat.", XXXIV, p. 468) protests that he does not argue merely from the name. I do not maintain, he declares equivalently, that the Church must spread throughout all the world, simply because it is called Catholic. I base my proof of its diffusion upon the promises of God and upon the oracles of Holy Scrip- ture. But the saint at the same time makes it clear that the suggestion, that the Church was called Cath- olic because it observed all God's Commandments and administered all t lie sacraments, originated with the Donatists, and he implies that this was a view in which he did nut himself concur. Here again the demonstration of the unity of the Church as built upon a dogmatic basis is fundamental, and the reader must be referred to the article CHURCH. The Anglican Bishop of Carlisle, in an article published in the Hib- bert Journal for January, 1908, and entitled "The Catholic Church, What Is It?", seems to carry the modern formula, Catholic = comprehensive, to its
most extreme lengths. No principle of cohesion
seems to be left except this, that the Catholic Church
is that which bans nothing. The bishop conceives of
it, apparently, as an institution invested by Christ
with unlimited power to add to its numbers, but no
power to expel. It must surely be plain that prac-
tical common sense pronounces against such a con-
ception not less strongly than the plain words of our
Lord in the Gospel or the consistent attitude of the
Fathers.
In addition to the references given in the course of the article, see Wilhelm anp Scannell, Manual of Catholic Theology (1898), II, 351-4; Rraus, Real-Encyklopndie dec christl.ich.cn AUerthiimer (Freiburg, 1882), s. v. Catholicus; Mazzella, Dc Rdigione et Ecclesia (Rome. 1S85); Schanz, A Christian Apol- ogy (tr. Dublin, 1891); Moureau, in Diet, de thiol, cath., s. v. Catholicite; Billot, Dc Sacra Tra.litome (Rome, 1904), 72-134; Semeria, Dogma, Gerarchia e Culto (Rome. 1902). 23.5-257; Turmel, Histoire de theologie positive (Paris, 1906), II, 117; Newman, Essays Historical and Critical, Essay ix, with note.
For the Protestant view see the latest (Hauck) ed. of Her- zog, Realencyklopddie fur protestantische Theologie and Ktrchc, s. v. Kirche; Harnack, History of Dogma (tr. London, 1S96), II; Pe arson. Exposition of the Creed; Fairbairn, Catholicism, Roman and Anglican (London, 1899).
Herbert Thurston.
Catholic Benevolent Legion, a fraternal assess- ment life-insurance society organized in Brooklyn, New York, U. S. A., 5 Sept., 1881. The charter mem- bers were Dr. George R. Kuhn, John C. McGuire, John D. Carroll, John Rooney, Thomas Cassin, John D. Keiley, Patrick F. Keany, William G. Ross, David T. Leahy, and Robert Myhan Bishop Loughlin of Brook- lyn was the spiritual adviser of the supreme council, the body through which the legal incorporation was made, and which governed the entire organization. The objectof the Legion was, as stated in its constitution, to unite fraternally, for social, benevol- ent, and intellectual improvement, Catholic men between the ages of eighteen and fifty-five years at the time of admis- sion. Life insurance not to exceed $5,000 was given in various amounts to members according to an optional classification, assessments for which were governed by the age of the member. The original figures of these assessments were increased in 1905 to meet the requirements of sounder insurance experience, as was the case with most of the other organizations of this character. Reports to 1908 showed that the Legion had, from its establishment, paid in death insurance $19,000,000. It had 20,000 members out of a total, from time of organization, of 74,188, and was represented by councils in six States. New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Indiana, Illinois, and Connecticut.
Thomas F. Meehan.
Catholic Club of New York, The, a social organi- zation described by its constitution as a club which "shall consist of Catholic gentlemen who arc gov- erned by a spirit of devotion to the Church and fidel- ity to the Holy Father". Its objects, as defined by the constitution, "shall be to advance Catholic in- terests, to promote the moral improvement of its members, to foster among them a true Catholic spirit, to encourage the study of Catholic history, literature, science and art, and for these purposes to main- tain a library, and by frequent social intercourse to bind themselves more closely in the pursuit of these and kindred ends". The club sprang from the Xavier Alumni Sodality, which was organized in ISO.;, in connexion with" the College of St. Francis Xavier, New York, with the object of encouraging Christian piety among the educated Catholic men of the city, and for many years directed by the Rev. P. F. I lealy, S. J. In March", 1871. the Xavier Cnion was organized by members of the Sodality to promote other desirable ends not embraced in the scope of a purely religious
