God . # Mills | Catholic Stuclent- Oixrion Oruvade DIRECTORY OF THE CRUSADE +e + & President RT. REV. BISHOP THOMAS JOSEPH SHAHAN, S.T. D., J. U.L., Rector of the Catholic University of America, Washington, D. C. ob ee ae Executice Board Chairman, VERY REV. FRANCIS J. L. BECKMANN, S. T. D., Rector of Mount St. Mary Seminary, Mt. Washington Station, Cincinnati, Ohio. Student Committeemen FRANK A. THILL, Secretary. J. PAUL SPAETH, Treasurer. Mount St. Mary Seminary, Mt. Washington Station, Cincinnati, Ohio. +t & & Field Secretary FLOYD KEELER, Apostolic Mission House, Brookland Station, Washington, D. C. To those who wish to know the ideal of the Catholic Students’ Mission Crusade this pamphlet is offered. In it the salient features of the organization are exposed briefly and clearly. It also contains suggestions as how best to form a Mission Society. Published by THES EXE CULIVE BOARD VOR THE CATHOLIC STUDENTS’ MISSION CRUSADE April, 1919. Nihil obstat: Die 10 Aprilis, 1919. Franciscus J. L. Beckmann, S.T.D., Censor Deputatus. Imprimatu?: Die 10 Aprilis, 1919. t Henricus Moeller, Archiep. Cincinnatensis. The Catholic Students’ Mission Crusade eS Se DEFINITION OF THE CRUSADE (J HE Catholic Students’ Mission Crusade is an organization to promote the interests of home and foreign missions. And although it is already established in Canada and runs parallel to similar student mission movements in Ireland, Italy and Colombia, South America, the international character of the work is excluded from the plan of this pamphlet. The Crusade, as stated above, is a students’ movement, and by that token it appeals especially to the Catholic young men and Catholic young women who are enrolled in institutions of higher learning in the United States. And while it excludes as members the pupils of our parochial schools, who can be or- ganized by our religious teachers to do good work for the Society of the Holy Childhood and other children’s mission enterprises, all other Catholic students are included within the possibility of membership. ‘““The Sacred Heart for the World, and the World for the Sacred Heart’’ expresses in words the ideal which fired the conception and the realization of this new organization; and to attain the object of this effort will require every spark of available energy, no matter where it exists. To the student element among our Catholic young women as well as to our young men has been directed the appeal of nations eagerly awaiting the Cross. And though the first convention consisted of representatives from colleges and universities where young Page three God Wills It! men only are educated, yet the past months have witnessed the formation of most enthusiastic Crusade units in several prom- inent colleges and academies for women. University scholar, undergraduate and high school pupil will take the Cross beside seminarists and religious, and to no one who is zealously inter- ested in this cause will be denied an actual participation in the glory of a mighty conquest. MAKE-UP OF THE CRUSADE HX the very outset it is necessary to understand that the Crusade, as such, is composed of societies as units, which are confederated in order to realize more easily their common aim. An individual young man or young woman, therefore, can have no standing in the movement; but to be- come a Crusader he or she must belong to a mission society which has been affiliated as a unit with the Catholic Students’ Mission Crusade. The mission society, accordingly, composed of several members, is the basis of organization. And by a mission society is understood not only a group of individuals who are united for the sole purpose of aiding Catholic missions, but also a section or group within any organization, such as sodality or literary club, whose aim it is to interest themselves in Catholic mission activity. The governing body of the Crusade is composed of a Presi- dent, an Executive Board of three members, an Advisory Board and a Field Secretary. The President and the members of the Executive Board are elected by the units in general assembly, while the members of the Advisory Board and the Field Secre- tary are designated by the President and his Executive Com- mittee. From this it is evident that the mode of government is purely representative and together with the great freedom of individual societies, which will be described below, must necessarily fulfill the supreme requirement of our American Page four God Wills It! temperament, For although the Crusade, at present, is under the patronage and immediate executive direction of the highest ecclesiastical persons, and undoubtedly will always remain so, yet its basic principles are truly democratic. The individual societies of which the Crusade is composed enjoy the greatest freedom. For, the Crusade, as such, does not aim to supplant nor to antagonize any of the existing mission agencies or societies, but wishes to become merely a force by which these agencies and societies shall be supplied with greater funds and more vocations. So that, any society affiliated with the Crusade is free to adopt as the beneficiary of its charity: The American Foreign Mission Society; the Society of the Divine Word; the Society of the Holy Childhood; the Society for the Propagation of the Faith; the Society of the Holy Land; the American Catholic Church Extension Society; or the mis- sions of any religious order or community under whose auspices it has been organized. In no sense is the Crusade to become a clearing-house for the distribution of funds collected in the vari- ous societies of which it is made up. For the constitution leaves to each society the disbursement of its own collections, according to the taste or the devotion of the individual group. To become members of the Catholic Students’ Mission Crusade, therefore, it is necessary that a group of students unite for the purpose of supporting by prayer, study and alms some Catholic mission enterprise; and secondly, that, in their appli- cation for affiliation, they promise to adhere to the constitution of the Crusade. The material obligations of this constitution, which are assumed by affiliation, are embodied in Article III, Section 2, of the document: “The constituent units shall be Catholic student organizations which shall report quarterly to the Executive Board full details of mission activity, including a statement of all contributions to home and foreign missions made by the unit or its members. Each unit shall furnish to the Executive Board an annual per capita tax of twenty-five Page five God Wills It! cents which shall serve to defray the expenses of general govern- ment and shall entitle all members to receive the official organ which is to be conducted by the Field Secretary.” In con- nection with the official organ it may be stated that government restrictions on white paper during the early part of the last year, together with the newness of the movement, prohibited this venture. At present, announcements, news, and official reports of the Crusade are appearing in a special Crusade Department of The Missionary magazine, published in Washington, D. C. OBJECT OF THE CRUSADE ( HE purpose for which the organization was established is embodied in the constitution, and is expressed in Article I], Section 1: “This is to be an organization of Catholic students to promote the interests of home and foreign missions.” A phrase so flexible as this was studiously incorpor- ated in the constitution because, to the Catholic mind, the promotion of an enterprise is not limited to financial support. To the students who assembled to perfect this young organiza- tion it was evident that the first need of Catholic missions is the assistance of prayer. And, realizing that ‘Unless the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it,” the convention of July, 1918, admits to full and unqualified membership, without financial obligations, mission societies founded among students of religious orders and congregations. This, however, does not exclude a voluntary contribution from such order or congregation to help pay expenses such as the maintenance of field secretaries, the cost of producing propaganda literature, etc., which are incurred by the executive branch of the Crusade. At this point it should also be noted that home missions as well as foreign missions are included in the scope of the movement. For, besides the peculiar appeal of personal interest Page six God Wills It! conveyed to many minds by the idea of home missions, it is true that those who surround us more closely truly deserve the exercise of our Christian charity. It is true that at present scarcely fifty per cent of the Indians of this country belong to the Church; that there are from ten to twelve million negroes within the confines of this country who have a claim to the attention of the Catholic Church, and that, according to the superior of one of the most successful missions among the negroes; “The efforts thus far made by the great Catholic Church in America to win over the negro race have been sur- prisingly out of proportion with the magnitude of the task. The Protestants have literally strewn the South with educational institutions for the negro; institutions ranking all the way from the kindergarten to the university; while we Catholics have not yet provided the colored people with one college or school of higher learning that can bear the name.” It is also true that approximately fifty millions, or one-half, of our population profess no religion at all; and that, but for the religious revolt of the sixteenth century, twenty-five’to thirty millions now pro- fessing Protestantism would at present hold berths in the ship of Peter. Out of the remaining twenty millions who have the Truth there is surely sufficient opportunity for the student element to exercise genuine Christian zeal. That the foreign mission field is equally deserving of the conscientious consideration and the support of every Catholic student, in fact, that it is the foreign field which especially needs our assistance is evident from a knowledge of existing conditions. To any one who realizes that, during the past, foreign mission work was carried on most extensively by European missionaries, and supported by European money, it must be evident that our World War has weakened considerably the Catholic missions. There are 800,000,000 pagans in foreign countries, and to a nation which during the past year has vindicated its idealism and spiritual outlook, such an appeal cannot remain unanswered. Page seven God Wills It! We possess human sympathy; there are among us men high in the social and professional circles of life who consider it a privilege to work on behalf of abused animals; surely Christian charity demands that we do as much for the souls of men. Do Catholic students realize that the 800,000,000 souls who are in paganism and who need the Gospel Truth so much, must have our assistance very soon? That they are dying at the rate of 70,000 every day and of over 25,000,000 every year? Do they know that human sacrifice and devil-worship continue still to desecrate the world in this our age of boasted enlightenment? That there are more heathen in the world today by over two hundred million than there were when Jesus died for them? Is it nothing to Catholic students that they have received the grace of faith and are here given the opportunity to share in the work of carrying its inestimable graces to those less fortunate? And the Catholic students of the United States can do much. During thirty years the Protestant students of the United States and Canada, through their organization known as the Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign Missions, have actually placed in their foreign missions 7,656 missionaries and have become the bulwark of the Protestant mission cause. We do not wish to imply that Catholic foreign missions are not supported. In fact, comparative tables of statistics very frequently do injustice to our Catholic people, because detailed statements of our expendi- tures cannot be had in many cases. But the fact to be empha- sized is, that our Catholic students have been doing compara- tively little for the missions. “Our generous and faithful con- tributors are the poor. . . The rich congregations, the fash- ionable colleges and academies contribute little or nothing to the cause.”” (Annals of the Progagation of the Faith, June, 1916.) If the Catholic students in the United States realized that in some mission fields such as India, the Protestants are main- taining nineteen educational institutions to our one, they could Page eight God Wills It! not resist the argument. If Catholic students knew that the 600,000 children abandoned yearly in China could be rescued not only from bodily death, but that they could be saved for the Church and Heaven, their Christian charity must rouse them to action. If our Catholic students had the opportunity to hear from the lips of some foreign missionary the indescribable hardships and handicaps under which he works, their generosity and willingness to pray and to sacrifice would be compelled. And if Catholic students knew the depth of supernatural vision, to say nothing of the aesthetic value, to be derived from inform- ing themselves on mission conditions, every Catholic institution of learning in our country would soon boast a mission study club. And then would cease the closing of our orphanages, our leper asylums, our hospitals and dispensaries in foreign lands. Then would be perpetuated the fruit of Catholic toil and blood. And to a nation which responded so nobly to the cry of a dis- tressed world could not be attributed the stigma: “America would not help when Europe could not.” It is the presentation to our Catholic students of mission facts and needs such as these which is the primary work of the Catholic Students’ Mission Crusade. And it is hoped that, by organizing our students and by impressing on them the crying needs of our missions, the sympathy of Catholic students will be awakened and their support secured for Catholic mission enterprise. HISTORY OF THE CRUSADE HE idea of this movement which has crystallized into J what promises to become an international students’ organization, was conceived and nurtured in solitude and humility; and the only reason for now exposing it is to dispel any scepticism as to the unselfishness which motived its pro- motion. To both of our foreign mission establishments here in Page nine God Wills It! the United States—Maryknoll and Techny—can be assigned the glory or the responsibility of furthering the project. For it was an article which appeared during the winter term of 1914-15 in the Maryknoll organ, The Field Afar, that inspired a young student of philosophy, with the Fathers of the Divine Word at Techny, with the notion of the present Catholic students’ mission movement. Mr. Clifford King was scarcely in a position to pursue his plan, as any one acquainted with the discipline of a religious community can well appreciate. And the fact that he was not permitted to act until fully two years later demon- strates conclusively that the Fathers of the Divine Word were not enthusiastically sanguine about the project. However, the young man cherished his convictions that the Catholic students of the United States could be organized on behalf of missions if actual conditions and needs were presented for their considera- tion. And so, after much prayer and waiting, encouraged the while by the faithful friend of the Crusade, Father Bruno Hagspiel, S. V. D., he and his associates were finally permitted in May, 1917, to issue a circular appeal for the organization of Catholic students in the mission cause. This was followed by an extensive Bulletin in October, 1917, carrying answers to questions which had been proposed in the previous circular; and containing motives for the immediate formation of as many student organizations as possible. In May, 1918, followed a second Bulletin, containing cordial approbations from Cardinal Farley, six bishops, fifteen heads of educational institutions and eight Catholic papers and magazines. The Conference at St. Mary’s Mission House, Techny, Ill., during the days of July 27, 28, 29 and 30, 1918, was the direct result of invitations to organize, carried in these two Bulletins. Techny was selected as the place of the convention because of its central location and because, through the generosity of the Fathers of the Divine Word, the delegates could there be afforded board and lodging during the sessions free of charge. Page ten God Wills It! The Techny Fathers, however, insisted from the very beginning that the Crusade should be altogether the work of students and, once the movement had been formally organized, they wished to withdraw entirely any directive influence which circumstances, in the beginning, had forced them to assume. The constitution of the new Crusade and the details of its organization have effected this arrangement, for at present only the students at Techny are connected with the Crusade, enjoying those pre- rogatives common to the twenty-two organizations which are the constituent units of the Catholic Students’ Mission Crusade. One hundred prelates, priests and laymen constituted the assembly, representing thirty colleges and universities, eight religious orders and five mission propaganda societies. From their deliberations during four days resulted the constitution of which much has been said; and the following list of officers represents the unanimous choice of the assembly: President, Rt. Rev. Bishop T. J. Shahan, Rector of the Catholic University of America; Executive Board, Chairman, Very Rev. F. J. Beckmann, Rector of Mt. St. Mary Seminary, Cincinnati, Ohio, with A. L. Schumacher and Frank A. Thill, students of the same institution, as assistant committeemen. The name of Bishop Shahan, prince of educators in our country, and that of Dr. Beckmann sufficiently guarantee the unqualified sincerity of the movement. APPROVAL OF THE HIERARCHY HAT the Crusade, besides enjoying the prerogative of hav- j ing eminent Churchmen at its head, has the full approval of the highest ecclesiastical authorities in our country is evident from the blessing bestowed upon the work by the Apostolic Delegate, Archbishop Bonzano, when petitioned by the Chairman of the Executive Board to endorse the organiza- tion. Archbishop Mundelein of Chicago, in whose Archdiocese the first convention was held, sent his blessing to the delegates, Page eleven God Wills It! and regretted that a previous engagement made impossible personal participation in the deliberations. Approbation and letters of encouragement from Cardinals Gibbons, O’Connell and Farley are reprinted in the first pages of Bulletin No. 3. And Bishop Allen of Mobile, Bishop Brossart of Covington, Bishop Dowling of Des Moines, at present Archbishop of St. Paul, Bishop Koudelka of Superior, Bishop Schuler of El Paso, and Bishop Schrembs of Toledo had already endorsed the movement in its infancy. In addition to these communications, the Crusade has in the files of its correspondence many letters from missionary bishops and vicars-apostolic acclaiming the movement as a God- send. HOW TO ORGANIZE A MISSION SOCIETY GA vivo the object and constitution of the Crusade, con- vinced that the motives which prompted its formation are really compelling, and reassured by the high ecclesiastical approbation which the movement enjoys, the determination to form or to sanction a Mission Society in your institution is a reasonable conclusion. And the method of forming such a society depends on the kind of organization which you establish, ac- cordingly as your society takes on the aspect of being a section within an organization already existing, or becomes a separate moral entity. The section, as explained in the beginning of this pamphlet, is merely a group of individuals within a larger society, who are interested in the work of Catholic missions. Should a few, there- fore, out of a larger society determine to study, pray and work for Catholic missions, they are eligible as a unit to become federated with the Catholic Students’ Mission Crusade. And should the whole of your sodality, literary club, or whatever organization you may have, determine to devote some time and energy to the mission ideal, either within or without the time of regular meetings of such sodality or club, the whole is eligible Page twelve God Wills It! to become federated as a unit of the Catholic Students’ Mission Crusade. The standing in the Crusade of such an organization does not differ from that of a distinct mission society, and the division is made merely to forestall the objection that too many societies in an institution are undesirable. It may here be said that several units of the Catholic Students’ Mission Crusade which are the most enterprising and successful, are sections within larger societies other than distinctive mission societies. The distinct mission society is, of course, the ideal; and whenever possible, your enthusiasm should crystallize into a distinct moral being: the Mission Society. The formation of such a society is secured in just the same way as that in which other permanent societies are organized. The entire procedure from the selection of a temporary chairman to the signing of the constitution may be found in any manual dealing with parliamentary law or rules of order. (Cf. Robert’s “Pocket Manual of Rules of Order,’ Sec. 48, p. 149.) The peculiar complexion of your constitution will, as already made clear, depend upon the taste or devotion of the group to which you belong. You may devote your entire attention to one or the other group of missions, and select as the bene- ficiary of your material and spiritual sacrifices that agency or religious community which cares for the needs of those particular missions. Or, if your number justifies the division, your society could be divided into groups, to one of which would be assigned the interests of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith; to another the work of the Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America; to a third could be allotted the study of the work carried on by the Society of the Divine Word; while to a fourth could be given the interests of the American Catholic Church Extension Society, or of home missions in general, etc. The formation of an intelligent constitution implies to some extent the institution of a mission study class, which, in reality is the essential and fundamental requisite of any successful Page thirteen God Wills It! mission society. Mission alms-giving is only at best secondary, and must never be made the primary goal of your endeavor. Prayer and a spirit of self-sacrifice have ever been the touch- stone to distinguish things Catholic. HOW TO JOIN THE CRUSADE (ee you have formed a society, the process of affiliation is not a complicated function. As stated above, it is necessary merely to apply for such to the Executive Board: at the same time promising to abide by the constitution of the Catholic Students’ Mission Crusade. A certificate or formal acknowledgment will then be forwarded to you. And you will have taken the Cross. You will be helping considerably in the noblest work which God has imposed on man. For in a way, you shall then go forth to teach all nations. Your sacrifices will knit you more closely to that powerful and sublime society, our Holy Church, which is the mystic body of Christ. Then will come to you that strength and supernatural nobility of character which comes with an actual participation in the battle for Christ and His Church. There is imperative need for converts to the cause. The War, before our entry into it, had already drained to an alarming extent the material resources and man-power of Catholic mis- sions. The missions are really suffering, and unless the prestige and material resources of our people are shared with Catholic missions, the edifice cemented with tears and blood is liable to weaken and, in some places, to fall. Never has an appeal like this gone forth to the Catholic student body of the United States, and those who presage failure neglect to understand the spirit of piety and of unselfishness which is characteristic of our American young men and young women. There is no height of achievement to which they may not aspire; and in this work of helping to propagate the one Page fourteen God Wills It! saving religion, than which there is no task more holy and more necessary, they will find an object worthy of their best aspirations. Catholic students, young men and young women! To each of you, no matter how humble, how retiring, is offered an op- portunity to do great things for God and souls. The spirit of Peter the Hermit and of St. Bernard is urging a twentieth cen- tury crusade, as noble and as chivalrous as that which prompted Christian armies to traverse a continent for the purpose of saving from desecration the sepulchre of the Lord. Catholic students! Follow the lead of those students, who, animated by a great, throbbing enthusiasm, are straining every nerve to make this a big, a national organization. Catholic students! The work has been started and its object is too noble, too holy, too necessary, not to succeed. God wills it! Page N OGES Bulletin No. 3, of the Catholic Students’ Mission Crusade, which contains a detailed report of the Techny conference, an extensive history of the movement, and a copy of the consti- tution, may be had gratis from Mr. Floyd Keeler, Field Secre- tary, Apostolic Mission House, Brookland Station, Washington, DAG: &F F&F & & The Executive Board deals primarily with questions of an executive nature. Inquiries for information will be handled as promptly as possible if addressed to this department. Such requests, however, receive immediate attention if addressed to the Field Secretary. All money orders and checks for the Crusade should be made payable to “The Treasurer, Catholic Students’ Mission Crusade.” Tyee ghee Sy pasty okey See the inside front cover of this pamphlet for the present location of executive branches of the Crusade. HELP US TO DISTRIBUTE THIS PAMPHLET: If it contains a message for you, perhaps the information would be welcomed by another. For extra copies, address THE CATHOLIC STUDENTS’ MISSION CRUSADE, Office of the Executive Board, MT. ST. MARY SEMINARY, MT. WASHINGTON STA., CINCINNATI, OHIO. OTe MR. FLOYD KEELER, Field Secretary, APOSTOLIC MISSION HOUSE, BROOKLAND STA., WASHINGTON, D. C.