This analysis of Public Opinion, of its power, of its formation will now make us better understand its relations with the Catholic Church. _Public Opinion and the Catholic Church_. Nowadays the relation of Public Opinion to the Catholic Church is, generally speaking, one of suspicion, frequently of silent contempt and very often of open hostility. This statement of fact may appear to many too sweeping; its broadness may trouble the peaceful faith of others. Yet, history and every day experience prove the truth of our assertion. We go further and claim that for the Church this condition will, and must exist. The Church, like Christ, her Founder and Master, is to be a "_Sign of Contradiction_." Her very name "Catholic" 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.