The Church also for her own benefit needs true Catholic leaders.  Leaders in a Catholic Community, who are not thoroughly Catholic in their training, who have false notions, warped views, biassed conceptions of vital questions, are most detrimental to the cause of Catholicity.  Distorted and confused ideas, in religious matters particularly, always lead to a compromise.  After school days they fail to find their Catholic faith correlated with the problems and experiences which never troubled them before, and which now, lack of higher education will not allow them to solve and to face.  Have we not indeed in Western Canada to guard ourselves against latitudinarianism in our Catholic life?  Material prosperity, success in business or in farming, associations with men and women who have practically no belief whatever, erroneous conceptions of broadmindedness in religious matters, absence of traditions, lack of Catholic education, all these causes and many others have created especially in our cities, where such a large floating population is to be found, and in our country places where there is no resident priest, a compromising Catholicism, apologetic Catholics.  How many Catholics in the West are always ready to cringe in presence of those who are not of our belief and to apologize for their faith.  To react against this abiding danger we need all through the country well instructed and thoroughly educated Catholic leaders who will be in our world of agnosticism and irreligion, the protagonists and apologists of Catholicism.  The fearless proclamation of the truth combined with a good moral public life is in itself a tremendous power.  Indeed, we need in all the avenues of life men whose university training will give them influence in public life.  But let it never be forgotten those captains of industry, those brilliant and successful professional men, those progressive farmers—­valuable as they all may be—­must count more as leaders of Catholic thought than as money-makers.  If not, they will be found wanting when the Church needs them the most.  We emphasize this point, for in the plea for higher education very often our attention seems to be more on the successful business man than on the Catholic thinker.

Love of Church and country will therefore inspire us with a high sense of duty in relation to the establishment of a seat of higher education in this promising part of our great Dominion.  And this duty, let us not forget it, is urgent.  Every decade means a new generation that should have passed from the halls of our university to the commanding heights of the country’s leadership.  Our hesitancy means a further postponement of the triumph of the Catholic Cause.

This high conception of an urgent duty gives the vision.  From the clearness, breadth and depth of that vision will spring the conquering spirit of co-operation.  Co-operation to be efficient and persevering demands a united plan of action and an authoritative leadership.