Rensselaer Republican, Volume 26, Number 50, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 August 1894 — CATHOLIC LIQUOR DEALERS [ARTICLE]

CATHOLIC LIQUOR DEALERS

The spirit of modern temperance reform appears to .. have permeated the higher official circles of the Roman Catholic Church, and has lately resulted in a rather remarkable ■jdict from Mgr. Satolli, the Pepe’s >egate in this country. The decision if this high official sustains a recent iction of Bishop Watterson of Ohio, in excluding from church recognition ill Catholic societies which have sa.oonkeepers or liquor dealers among their officers. The papal delegate says: The liquor traffic, and especially as coniucted here in the United States, is the source of much evil; hence the Bishop was acting within his rights in seeking to, •estrict it. Therefore the apostolic delegate sustains Bishop Watterson’s action, ind approves of his circular and regulations concerning saloons and the exclulion of saloon keepers from membership n Catholic societies. What the result will be cannot with certainty be predicted. The Catholic priesthood have always, or it least as a general rule, viewed the iquor traffic in a very amiable and enient mood, and the business has never been considered a bar to full ffiurch fellowship. Logically this iecision will change this state of affairs. and we may expect good results in the near future from the promulgation of the edict. Papal ?dicts are generally obeyed by the levotees who subscribe to the Catholic creed, and they will be very apt to yield obedience in this case. It is likely to prove to be a great gain for the temperance cause, bringing to its aid a powerful influence hitherto ipparently indifferent to the subject.