is a
perennial witness to her sublime and admirable Catholicity, and thereby
an abiding proof of her Divinity. A Church that modifies her tenets
and adjusts her moral standards to accommodate herself to the
conveniences and fancies of the world is not, and cannot be the Church
of Christ. Now, as in the times of the Apostles, the Church "_Is a
Sect that is everywhere spoken against_"--"_If ye were of the world_?"
said the Saviour, "_the world would love his own; but ye are not of
this world, therefore the world hateth you_." Yes, suspicion, contempt
and hostility are the hall-marks of historic Christianity, for they are
the realization of Christ's promises to His Church, the fulfilment of
His prophesies. This fact for a Christian who has eyes to see, and
ears to hear, is particularly noticeable when periodically a tidal wave
of bigotry or open persecution strikes the Catholic Church, lashes
itself into fury, washes the Rock of Peter with ugly foam . . . and
dies away, ashamed of its own powerlessness and unfairness.

Viewing this relation of Public Opinion to the Catholic Church--not as
an evidence of that spiritual conflict, often unconscious but ever
real--but as a fact, a historic reality, some may ask the proof of our
rather bold statement. Even those who are not of our Faith, and yet
always wish to be fair and broad in their dealings with the Catholic
Church, may question it.

The proof is very simple to give. Public Opinion is against the
Catholic Church, because the powers that create and maintain Public
Opinion are against the Catholic Church. Facts here speak for
themselves.

The Press--the Novel--the Periodical Literature--the Cinema--the
Stage--the Public School--the Academy and University Halls--the
Legislative Assemblies . . . are without doubt the high voltage-wires
that receive, carry and distribute the current of Public Opinion. Or
rather, like the wireless stations they gather those invisible and
imponderable waves of thought and feeling that are ever flashing
through the intellectual and moral atmosphere of nations, and translate
their message to the masses. Between these powers and Public Opinion
there is a continuous action and reaction. They are at the same time
the _moulders_ and _mirrors_ of Public Opinion. They are its
_masters_, but with the condition of being first its _servants_.

Of all these creative forces none is greater and more universal than
the _Press_. If Public Opini