One of the things the Catholic Church fears least in this country is Protestantism.  She considers it harmless, moribund, in the throes of disintegration.  It never has, cannot and never will thrive long where it has to depend on something other than wealth and political power.  It has unchurched millions, is still unchurching at a tremendous rate, and will end by unchurching itself.  The godless school has done its work for Protestantism, and done it well.  Its dearest enemy could not wish for better results.

Popular education comes more and more to mean popularized irreligion.  The future struggles of the Church will be with Agnosticism and Infidelity—­the product of the godless public school.  And without pretending to be prophets or sons of prophets, we Catholics can foresee the day when godless education, after making bad Christians, will make bad citizens.  And because no civilization worthy of the name has ever subsisted, or can subsist, without religion, the maintenance of this system of popular and free government will devolve on the product of Christian education, and its perpetuity will depend upon the generations turned out of the religious school.

The most substantial protest the Catholic Church offers against godless education is the system of her parochial schools; and this alone is sufficient to give an idea of the importance of this question.  From headquarters comes the order to erect Catholic schools in every parish in this land as soon as the thing can be done.  This means a tremendous amount of work, and a tremendous expense.  It means a competition on educational grounds with the greatest, richest and most powerful nation in the world.  The game must be worth the candle; there must be some proportion between the end and the means.

The Catholic Church has the wisdom of ages to learn from; and when she embarks on an enterprise of this kind, even her bitterest enemies can afford to take it for granted that there is something behind it.  And there is.  There is her very life, which depends on the fidelity of her children.  And her children are lost to her and to God unless she fosters religion in her young.  Let parents share this solicitude of the Church for the little ones, and beware of the dangers of the godless school.

CHAPTER LXIV.  CATHOLIC SCHOOLS.

The Catholic school system all over this land has been erected and stands dedicated to the principle that no child can be properly, thoroughly and profitably—­for itself—­educated, whose soul is not fed with religion and morality while its intelligence is being stocked with learning and knowledge.  It is intended, and made, to avoid the two defects under which our public school system labors—­the one accidental, the other fundamental—­namely, extravagance and godlessness.  The child is taught the things that are necessary for it to know; catechism and religion take the place of fads and costly frills.