THE POSITION OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST IN IRELAND IN
REGARD TO REBELLION.
[TO THE EDITOR 07 Till " SPECTATOR."] SM,—I am often asked by English and Scotch friends in correspondence to tell them what is the position of the Roman Catholic Church in
Ireland with regard to the war and with regard to the late rebellion. With regard to the war, the Church has been silent. It has novel come out to advance the cause of recruiting. In one or two indi- vidual cases an Irish priest has appealed for recruits. Tho recent correspondence between General Maxwell and the Bishop of Limerick is illuminating, and should be noted by loyal Roman Catholics in England. General Maxwell wrote on May 6th to the Bishop of Limoriok as follows :— " Mr Lonn,—I have the honour to request your Lordship's co-operation in a matter connected with the present deplorable situation in Ireland, the settlement of which I am confident you desire no less keenly than I do. There are two priests in your diocese, the Rev. Father —, of —, and the Rev. Father —, of —, whose eresence in the neighbourhood I consider to be a dangerous menace to the peace and safety of the Realm, and had these priests been laymen they would have already been placed under arrest. In this case I would be glad if your Lordship would obviate the necessity for such action by moving these priest to such employment as will deny their having intercourse with the people, and inform me of your decision.—I have the honour to be, your humble servant, L. J. MAXWELL, General,
Commander-la-Chief of Forces In Ireland."
Some correspondence then ensued between them, the Bishop pro. testing : " I do not see any justification for disciplinary action on my part. They are both excellent priests, who hold strong National views, &c." But what is more interesting is the letter which Bishop O'Dwyer writes in reply to a letter from the Limerick Board of Guardians, which had been sent by them approving of the Bishop's action with regard to General Maxwell's appeal. The Bishop writes :— " It would bo a sorry day for the Church In Ireland if her Bishops took their orders from agents of the British Government. As to the poor fellows who have given their lives for Ireland, no one will venture to question the purity and nobility of their motives or the splendour of their courage. But many blame them for attempting a hopeless enterprise. Yet one cannot help noticing that since Easter Monday Home Rule has come with a bound into the sphere of practical politico, although Mr. Asquith and his Government with conspicuous incon- sistency are shooting and imprisoning the men who galvanized them into action."
I am writing this in the hope that English Roman Catholics will make some protest to their co-religionists in Ireland. When Ulster Dissenters considered that the views and actions of English and Scotch Dissenters in regard to Home Rule were opposed to Imperial ideas, they had no hesitation in writing to and visiting their co-religionists and placing the truth before them. Cannot English Roman Catholics do the same ? I would like to ask this question : If the Ulster people on August 4th in their strength and might had taken up arms against the King, would the English and Scotch Radical Press have said " They were fighting a clean fight " ; " they were men imbued with noble ideas " ; " they were giving their lives for Ulster " ? We know they would not ; they would have said they were "dirty traitors," and they would have been quite right. We have lost the virtue of calling things by their right names. These Irish rebels not only struck England in the back, but they treacherously struck their fellow-countrymen and hit them in their extremity. Decent Irishmen cannot forgive this. I ask English and Scotch Roman Catholics to be brave enough to say what they think. I fool sure they cannot approve of the views of the Bishop of Limerick. There was a great deal too much foreign money financing the late rebellion to call it a worthily planned affair, and the sniping of soldiers in the street and the shooting of unarmed Volunteers savour of something not at all heroic. The Irish are magnificent " yelpers "—let us yelp in chorus and tell them what decent people
think of them. Let the loyal English and Scotch Roman Catholic' clergy say what they think of this shielding of disloyal priests by their Bishop. If a priest interferes in civil affairs and breaks the civil law, we fear we must make him amenable to civil law, in spite of the anti. glutted " Motu Proprio Decree " produced for the benefit of suult
wrongdoers. This is a democratic age, and we do not suffer such
privileges in 1916.—I am, Sir, &c., CLSTERWOUAN.
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