Bishop McGuinness
The» new leader of the Homan
C'atliolie denomination in .\orth
Carolina has already proved
liimself to he a man most worthy
of the high offi<*<» which has lieen
entrusted to him.
By R. C. LAWRENCE
WHEN* lib Eminence. Cardi¬
nal Gibbons, visited North
Carolina in 18C8, the Cath¬
olics were hut a feeble folk, and you
could hardly find one in a Sabbath
day’s journey.
And how the different denominations
did kiek and bite one another back
in those days! The Baptiste snapped
at the Presbyterians; t he Presbyte¬
rians harked at the Methodists; and
when a Catholic hove in sight, all of
them left off what they were doing
and took after him!
It’s a far cry from that lime to the
day when I‘iu« XI passed to his
great reward. Then every Protestant
eye in Carolina was wet with tears
because of the passing from this world
of the great Apostle in the oauso of
peace and Christian brotherhood.
The Offer From Raleigh
Then came the day of the persecu¬
tions of the Jews in Germany, the
stark horror and cruelty which beset
that unhappy race — cruelty before
which Atilla. the Hun. would have
blushed in shame. It brought an offer
from 1 1 is Excellency, the Most Rev¬
erend Eugene J. McGuinness, Bishop
of Raleigh, to give two bund ml of
these Hebrew refugees a home in the
Catholic Orphanage, and allow them
to he ministered to. if desired, by a
Rabbi of their own faith. I think this
by far the biggest thing that has
boon done in Carolina since that dnv
in 192*1 when James B. Duke an¬
nounced the establishment of his
great foundation.
The Catholic jurist. William Gas¬
ton, was one of the most distinguished
statesmen the South ever produced,
and he was the father of our state
song. When Bishop McGuinness
made his generous offer. I felt that
the spirit of Gaston brooded over
him, and that the spirit of Gaston
summoned the angelic choir to join
him in swelling the chorus of
"Carolina! Carolina! Heaven’s
blessings attend her.”
Surely, if there were any last linger¬
ing trace of bigotry or narrow sec-
tn liiin i-ni, it should disappear in the
face of such an exhibition of Chris¬
tian brotherhood, and it should serve
to demonstrate that the time is ri|»>
in Carolina for what Tennsvson railed
"The Parliament of man, the
Federation of the world."
Cat h< dies and other minority sects
had a tough time of it from the lie-
ginning. The Constitution of 1 77 0
provided that no minister should 1h-
eligible to public office, nor should
anyone he eligible who denied the
truth "f the Protestant religion, or
the inspiration of either the Old or
New Testaments. This was com
in only supposed to be directed against
the Catholics, Jews, Quakers, Men-
non it es, and other minorities.
Acting under this authority, the
legislature expelled two ministers
who had been elected to that body.
It is a singular fart that both of them
were thereafter elected to Congress,
as of course the State Constitution
could not prevent their election to a
federal office. The question also arose
in the ease of a Jew, but the Legis¬
lature avoided the issue by holding
lliat a legislative seat was not a “civil
office" within the purview of the Con¬
stitution. Yet in 1781. within five
years after the adoption of the Con¬
stitution. the big Catholic. Thomas
Burke, was elected as Governor, and
not a Protestant remonstrance wa«
heard. Burke must have been a big
man. or something would have been
mi id about his Catholicism.
William Gaston was more than a
Carolina figure — he was a states¬
man upon the National field, and in
a class by himself as a representative
Catholic layman. His career need not
he followed, hut I would JKiint to
one service rendered by him to the
cause of religious tolerance. Gaston
had a seal upon our Supreme Bench,
hut when the Constitutional Conveu
lion of 1835 was held, he was so
popular that he was elected to a scat
in that body also. He and Carolina’s
other groat statesman. Nathaniel Ma¬
con. both favored the abolition <»f all
religious tests for office holding. They
were unable to get that done, but
they did succeed in having the word
“Christian" substituted for “Protes¬
tant.'’ This restored civil right- !■>
Catholics, but still excluded the dew».
When the Civil War came along,
the Carolina Jew was such a pur¬
chaser of Confederate bonds, the mem
her- of that race gave so freely of
their blood to the cause of the South,
that when the Constitutional Conven
lion met in 1S68, even though the
•late was in the throes of reconstruc¬
tion. tin* Convention in very shnmc
• truck out the provision directed
against the Jews, and since then mem-
Й*
of all religious sects have full
iticnl rights in Carolina.
* Gaston was not the only hig man
the Carolina Catholics have produced.
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