CHAPTER II
ROMAN CATHOLICISM SLAYS
PRESENT
As I sat on the comfortable trans-continental express train,"Sun-Set Limited," talking with a Church of Rome official, while traveling across the vast state of Texas, he stated that all these aforementioned atrocities were PAST, that the Roman Church of today has changed her policy and that none of them could ever occur again.
For the convenience of those who are inclined to believe that astonishing statement, may I now give you some prevalent facts of what Romanism is doing in various countries today! Remember an absolute truth: where Rome is in the ascendancy, the non-Romanists are dealt with by a drastically different law than she is obliged to adopt in other lands.
For simplicity, we shall divide the second section of this treatise (i.e.,"Present-Day Romanism") under five headings: ROMANISM SLAYS: Politically, Physically, Financially, Morally, and Spiritually.
Politically, Romanism is ingenius. The most elaborate, efficient, and accurate foreign office in the world is in the Vatican, situated in the historic city set on seven hills. Her sixty papal legates, with her thirteen hundred bishops, operating through her tens of thousands of priests, monks, nuns, et cetera, obtaining information through their confessional from four hundred million adherents, ascertain the current tenor of the entire world. This Vatican-governed police force is the largest on the globe. It works incessantly, secretly, vigilantly, and relentlessly to secure every detail that the pope demands. The pope and his secretary of state know more about world politics than the heads of any government on earth. (Hitler knows this; and so does Mussolini.) They have on record the present political situation of every part of the known world from Lhassa to Timbuctoo.
Why does a so-termed spiritual society interest herself so keenly in politics? Simply because she HAS BEEN - IS - and will FOREVER BE a political agent. Between the short span of time from 1870 to 1929, the popes were outwardly shorn of all temporal power. Then Mussolini, in order to pull Italy closer to himself, made an alliance with the papacy. He gave Pius XI full sovereignty over Vatican State with a "little" magnanimous offering of approximately forty million dollars, or eight million pounds sterling. For this, he gained the benediction of the pope. The avowed atheist was now an ardent disciple! This marked the beginning of the pope's return to "out-ward" temporal power.
While Romanism directly governs only one-sixth of a square mile, with just over one thousand population, she indirectly is a mighty international political giantess. Her influence is felt in nearly every capital of the civilized world. Most large cities of America and Britain, with other countries, have a unit of the papal society to bring state politics under the hand of Roman politicians. Already in Britain and America she has succeeded in placing her own men and women in many prominent key positions. It is very remarkable that Mussolini is tenaciously suppressing this "Catholic Action" Society in Italy. He knows more about the intrigues of the papacy than we!
What is the meaning of it all? Rome is preparing her stage for the world of today to bow in adoration to her as the nations of the Middle Ages were obliged to do.
As Hildebrand, heralded as the greatest pope of the Middle Ages, made Henry III emperor of the Holy German Empire, stand at his gate for three days begging for papal forgiveness (thus proving to the empire in the mind of the pope that he was greater than the emperor); as Pope Innocent III subjected King John to his iron will until it caused the English barons to demand the Magna Charta (the pope became so angry when the people were enfranchised that he issued a ferocious bull annulling the Charta of Freedom); just as she worked through her demi-devil Jesuits and swayed the French throne, and planned the insane "Gun Powder Plot" in England, so she is still playing the fox with the nations of the world. If the leaders of nations do not awaken, and become alert, she will soon draw her curtains, and the ACT will begin! Protestant-governed countries often wonder why countries with Catholic majorities abuse Protestants with such rigid intolerance. Rumania, for example, as the world knows, has brutally handled its Protestant population, especially the aggressive evangelical communions. Church property has even been confiscated after closing the place of worship! The answer is apparent when we realize that the Patriarch of Rumania is the Minister-President, also the Minister of Education is an archbishop of the ruling church. Thus one is easily made to see that the iron hand of prostituted religion is wielding a mighty influence in politics TODAY. One of the publicized personalities in the current remapping Europe game is Father Josef Tiso. He is a puppet under Hitler. While Czechoslovakia was being submerged into the Nazi blood bath, he stood as Hitler's right-hand man! He is premier of Czechoslovakia today! It is the age-long story of PRIEST AND POLITICs! When one sees a huge statue, as in a plaza in Santos, Brazil, of a priest with a raised hand holding a cross while with his other hand he beckons to a troop of soldiers to follow him to battle,"he that hath eyes to see" will easily observe that Rome is still "politic-ing" TODAY!
The Roman hierarchy has made love to Mussolini and thereby gained supreme religious right in Abyssinia. (Gold was a portion of the love affair.) Since then many Protestant missionaries have suffered expulsion. She calls Spain her most devout child, and Franco dances to her tune! Only a few weeks past Franco went to the cathedral and placed his bloody sword on the Romanist altar. He dedicated it to the CHURCH! Spain had now been made Christian!
In conclusion, if the general public of many of our countries knew all of her heinous intrigues, working behind closed and locked doors, without a doubt a holy war would be staged. This makes the twenty million faithful papists of America a real danger to our nation, because they are obliged to be Romans first - then Americans! But my plea is passive and directed to the honest heart. Therefore, this treatise is satisfied in presenting irrefutable truth that papalism is POLITICAL TODAY. ROME SLAYS, POLITICALLY!
ROMANISM SLAYS -- Physically
Physically, Rome has slain without any scruples in the past. Her eternal policy of "heretics are not to be tolerated but destroyed by death" has led millions of sincere folk to the choice of a martyr's crown! This, Rome confesses, has been true. Our concern now is: Does Romanism SLAY PHYSICALLY TODAY?
To ascertain this, we must visit lands where ecclesiastical Rome rules supreme.
Journey with me to Eire, the southern part of the Emerald Isle. To arrive there, we have to travel across the "rocky road to Dublin." (The Irish Sea is notorious for upsetting gastric equilibrium!) Upon our arrival in Dublin, the capital of Eire, may I in form you that the population of the little nation is approximately three million. Of these, some 93 to 95 per cent are Irish Romanists.
How are Protestants received in this papist stronghold? I shall describe to you some of my personal experiences here.
With a companion, Bert Mitson, I went to Eire to engage in some evangelistic activities. On the first Sunday morning we went to the Y.M.C.A. to speak to a group of the poor, who enjoy a free breakfast each Lord's Day morning. At the door, a member of the Catholic Action Party met us. As he counted his rosary, he said,"Don't go in there; they are all heretics." Without any argument, we passed by him, and walked inside. During the meeting, he looked in the door and saw that I was speaking. After the service, as we left the building, he approached my friend and me and snarled,"Give reason for your faith!" With this he gave me a ram in the ribs with his elbow. When we said nothing, he gave me another slam in the side and cried,"You are heretics." As he did this while we walked for a whole block, I decided he should be glad that I was a "heretic," for before I became one I would have mopped the streets with him for punching me along the sidewalk, decrying my philosophy of life. After assuring us that there was no hope outside of the "Mother Church," he departed upon our informing him we were visitors to the country!
While riding on a street-car in Dublin, a ruffian jumped up and was about to strike us. The street-car conductor was obliged to put him off the car. I did not ascertain why he was going to smite us in the face unless we had failed to salute the Romanist churches we were passing, as the others on the car were doing.
For two weeks my friend and I searched for a place to hold meetings in Eire. The papists would not rent us a hall nor a plot of ground for a tent. There were halls for rent, and the caretakers were eager to rent, but upon our confession of the use we would make of them, we were harshly denied the privilege. This even included the city hall that was for rent, but as I was a Protestant, the secretary spoke very unkindly to me and said it was not for rent to me.We wrote the city council for a plot of ground for a tent that was not in use. This was flatly denied us. We prayed we walked, we talked, until at last we were obliged to give up in defeat. ROMANISM IS CRUEL. If there are any who feel a bit doubtful of this attitude, please go to the interior of Eire and try to do evangelistic work. I will guarantee you a bruised body and possibly worse!
It may surprise you to know that Romanist-Eire levies a custom duty on imported Bibles! She also taxes the retail sale of the Bible! When colporteurs fail to comply with her rigid, nonsensical laws, a pimping priest drags them into the courts. (This happened while I was there.)
While speaking with a prominent Methodist minister in Dublin, he informed me that a young Romanist priest had whipped him with a horse-whip in a public square for street preaching and giving out tracts. The papist-controlled law did not even attempt to protect him.
When I told this same minister that I desired to do evangelistic work in Eire,he smiled and asked what I would do with the converts. As I did not know,he said that over a period of years he had only had a few turn from Romanism. To keep these from being massacred, he was obliged to rush them over to Eng-land at his own expense and support them until em-ployment could be found. He stated that Rome is holding her Irish stronghold intact by FEAR. This is her age-long tactic.
Many other details we witnessed and heard of, but I am not attempting to exhaust this subject; only fully expose, as a Christian duty, to the thinking public, the true nature of Romanism.
To show that Eire is a criterion on this issue, shall we visit Brazil next? After sailing south for about two weeks from New York on a luxurious, modern vessel, you arrive in Rio de Janeiro, the capital of the largest of the South American republics. We must bear in mind that here Rome has ruled for centuries; therefore we present must expect to see her at her best. (The present government is not pro-Romanist; therefore, Protestants are enjoying more privileges at present than ever before, but this is not because Rome desires it to be so.)
In Brazil, we are again confronted with the same hateful attitude. The Romanist priesthood have agitated the people against their competitors, even to the extent of stoning Protestants. They have also wrecked places of worship with sticks and stones. If a Brazilian decides to change his religious belief, he is ostracized from home and community. He is invariably threatened and often beaten. Usually he must give up his new revelation of Christ or move to another part of the country where he is not known. On one occasion, an entire group of believers were chased into the tropical, crocodile-infested forest. They were kept there with sticks and stones for three days. Civil officials had to demand the papists to release them.
I once met a veteran missionary who had laboured in Brazil for some twenty years. When we met, we were both traveling to Brazil; therefore, he often related some of the outstanding incidents of his missionary career. He explained that when he first went to Brazil the papists were extremely cruel to him. If a native Brazilian indicated any sympathy toward him, the priests put that one on the black list. If one of the Romanist adherents attempted to turn from the Church of Rome, it resulted in unbearable persecution for the individual and his family. For a few years, he laboured with all integrity, with little visible results. At last a few of the Brazilians saw his good and honest life and listened to his message. They decided that the horrible tales of their priests were not true; therefore, believed the simple. unadulterated gospel of Christ.
The missionary stated that they had only thirteen in their mission, and he was really proud of that small number. But a dark night came! He was scheduled to go to another town and preach. As he packed his luggage for the journey, one of his members came rushing into his home, very excited. He asked the Brazilian what was wrong, and he replied, between quick-drawn breaths,"Oh, nothing! I have just come over to walk to the station with you tonight."
"You need not bother; as it is late, you should go on home," the missionary advised.
But with trembling hands, the Brazilian grasped the missionary's suitcases and proceeded to go with him to the railway station. As they walked down the street, the missionary, with no sign of nervousness, mused, "What is ailing my church-member? I have never seen him so excited before."
But the missionary did not know that the local priests had bribed a desperate man to throw a dagger through his heart as he went to board the train that night. This Christian had discovered the plot and concluded,"If I make the intrigue known, possibly the entire group of us non-Romanists will have to suffer death. To stop the trouble, I will go and silently protect my missionary!" Therefore the missionary was walking very composed, to travel to his next engagement, but the highly excited Brazilian was taking his last walk before going to heaven! At the station, they stood and waited for the train to pull in. While doing so, the Brazilian incessantly watched every twig that moved. Every noise in the shadows was under his eagle eye. The missionary felt the tension in the breast of his convert and noticed that he was watching every movement in the dark shadows of the palm-trees. As the train rolled in and stopped, he started to step aboard. Suddenly a figure rushed from the shadows. In a second, a cold, cruel steel blade was singing a song of death through the night air. But the sinister figure from the shadows was not as fast as the noble Christian! In a flash, he jumped before the missionary, opened his chest to capacity to shield him, then dropped to his knees. The missionary looked, and a long, keen blade had sunk deep into the chest of his beloved friend. As blood ran down his bosom, the man looked up with the death rattle in his throat, and a glassy, death-look in his eyes, and mumbled, "Missionary, I have died for you." He slumped to the ground, a martyr to the cross of Jesus Christ.
As the missionary stood that night on the open deck of the ship and tenderly related the story to me, a briny tear trickled down my cheeks. I gazed to the far horizon and looked at the blazing constellation that makes the glorious "Southern Cross" and thought -"That earnest, sacrificial martyr reminds me of our Saviour!" When Satan desired to thrust a dagger through us and send us to the land of the lost, Jesus voluntarily stepped between! He bore the pain of the blade that was meant for us! While bearing it on the cross, He cried,"It is finished!" Redemption! Emancipation! Enfranchisement! Heaven! All accomplished for poor victims like us! Hallelujah! " & Thank You!" "Thank You, Jesus! Thank You!! And thank you, dear Brazilian martyr, for over your dead corpse, men and women saw the beauty of true Christian sacrifice. As a result of your gallant death, a revival came to that city."
ROME SLAYS --- PHYSICALLY!
As it is invariably the same in every Romanist-dominated part of the world (where the civil government will allow it today), shall we consider one incident in the great Belgian Congo? Mr. Wm. Burton, a personal friend of mine, is the co-founder of the Congo Evangelistic Mission. He has a large squad of missionaries working with him, besides five hundred native pastors, who hold an average of one thousand meetings each day! Here violence is a common occurrence. The catechists from Europe work upon the base emotions of the Blacks and cause them to commit outrages against the Protestants. They have taken our evangelists and beaten them; thrown pig-dung and sand into their eyes, and left them to crawl home. If you deny this situation, it is only because of ignorance. Everyone who is informed about the true situation in Congo land realizes that Protestants have suffered long under the cruel hand of Romanism. The only accusation against the non-Romanist is that they proselytize; however this simply means that they get the natives really saved, experiencing a changed heart.
One of the saddest cases of Romanistic monstrosity is that of a friend of mine, Mr. Lief Earl Erickson, who is a missionary to Peru. When he and his party arrived in that land many years ago, he chose a section in northern Peru that was notorious for its antagonism against missionaries. Many had already been drivên out by Romanist priests. As soon as they arrived for mission-work,the priests instigated a propaganda campaign against them. Every papist pulpit was ringing with abuse upon the newcomers. They were called politicians sent out by the American government to overthrow the Peruvian government. (These were European-born priests.) The priests pro-claimed that these new missionaries were known to be murderers and deceivers, working under a pretext of religion. But alas, the new missionary with ardent zeal, preached the gospel with great fervor from morning until night. The sick were healed through his prayer of faith. Lives were changed by his powerful entreaties for them to turn to God. The religious-sodden Peruvians were leaving Romanism! Seeing the people turn from Romanism, the priests became infuriated. At last the new missionary had some followers ready for Christian baptism. As the baptismal service was in progress, the priest in the local "Church of Bethlehem" told his congregation that if they did not kill these heretics, they would have the plagues of Egypt poured out upon them, that God would dry up their river and stop the water supply! The insane mob rushed from the church and down to the river bank where the baptismal service was being held. At the water's edge, three missionaries and four natives were mercilessly pelted with stones. Two of them were left for dead; one was Mr. Erickson. A stone had crushed his skull. After the mob dispersed, friends and loved ones came and picked them up and cared for their wounds.
My dear reader, I was speaking to this man only a few days past. The concussion of his skull has left a permanent dent on his head. It has further left him with a permanent mental weakness. He told me he could no longer concentrate; that his memory would leave him at times and that his nervous system was shattered. A heart-rending fact is that this poor man is permanently disabled to do any kind of work. He has a wife and six little children who are dependent upon him!
Friend, as I stood and talked with this missionary
