Catholic Problems in Western CanadaDaly, George Thomas
Religion
Catholic Problems in Western Canada
Daly, George Thomas
Catholic Church -- Canada
Should not such atmosphere of infidelity or diluted Christianity in
non-Catholic universities be for Catholic students a source of danger to
the vigour and even to the integrity of their faith, to their constancy,
in the full and faithful observance of their practical religious duties?
Familiarity with error, at the age of youth principally, breeds contempt
of truth and jeopardizes faith. The suppression of truth in its various
forms, the concealment of religious profession and observance,
necessarily lead to religious indifference. How many sad examples could
we not give to back this statement? This danger which Catholic youth
meets with in the very atmosphere of our neutral universities is still
greater when we consider the method of teaching now in honour in these
schools of higher learning. The tutorial method, still in vogue at
Oxford, has given place to the _professorial_. The systematic lecture
has replaced the exposition of texts. The professor, with his frame of
mind, his views on facts and ideas, is the living book from which our
youth read their daily lesson. His personality dominates the mind of the
pupil. We all know what fascination the science, reputation and
eloquence of a professor have on the unarmed and impressionable minds of
youth. The "_Magister dixit_" is very often the supreme law, the last
criterion of truth. President Garfield's ideal of a college, "Mark
Hopkins on the other end of the log," recognizes the educative value of
the contact with a master-mind.
Authority and reason militate in favor of higher Catholic education for
Catholics in Western Canada, this is the logical conclusion of our
statements.
* * * * * *
Yes, nice theories, some may say; but we are facing facts. How are we to
contend with these well equipped, richly endowed, neutral institutions of
higher education? Where shall we find the resources to pay efficient
teachers, to establish the various faculties that go to form a university
worthy of its name? Have we not a state-university marvellously well
equipped and for which our Provinces are yearly spending fabulous sums?
Why not take advantage of our own money that goes in taxes for the
support of these institutions?
To argue along these lines is to concede to our enemies our position on
the Separate School question. All these objections have been met with in
other countries and other provinces, and the answer to them was the
creation of Catholic colleges and universities.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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