"Catholic Unity Octave" is the name under which an annual week of prayer and propaganda—now in its thirtieth consecutive year—is widely conducted by the Roman Catholic Church. In Washington, D.C., the local services were held under the auspices of the Catholic University, on the university campus. Those in attendance were chiefly student priests from the various colleges and orders resident nearby or connected with the university.
Through this means, among others, Catholicism adroitly bids for the return of the confused and wayward "other sheep" to the "one fold" of her communion, chiefly through skillfully fostering the concept of world conquest for the faith. The eight special services of the Octave were dedicated respectively to the Other Sheep, the Oriental Separatists, the Anglicans, the Protestants of Continental Europe, the Christians of America, the Jews, the Lapsed Catholics, and as an ambitious finale, the Conquest of the World.
The last speaker in the series was, incidentally, the one responsible for launching the Octave thirty years ago, at which time he was an Anglican clergyman who had just gone over to Rome. His presentation included a recital of the progression Romeward of great numbers of Anglo-Catholics in the Anglican communion which, in high-church ranks, he averred, had come to "out-Catholic the Catholics" in ornate ritual and ceremonialism. As there can be no corporate unity with Rome save by Protestant submission, Catholics are working aggressively toward this declared objective.
Special forms of prayer and special hymns were used, including "The Church Unity Octave Hymn." This has uniform opening and closing stanzas, with a progressive series of special stanzas corresponding to each day's emphasis. The following were its standard opening words:
"That all be one, O dearest Lord, we pray,
That all be drawn withinThy one, true fold,
Back to Thy church from which the wand'rers stray,
And Thy true faith she keeps, like saints of old.
O bring them back, Good Shepherd of the sheep;
And rouse the heathen nations from their sleep.
"That all be one, O Lord, bring—bring them home—
The 'other sheep' to Thy one fold on earth,
To him who sits in Peter's chair at Rome,
Thy vicar, since the age which saw Thy birth;
That with one shepherd, under one command,
May march Thy conquering hosts in every land."
Apart from the inevitable pomp and colorful pageantry of papal ceremonialism, the addresses—given by a different priest each night —were able, logical, and impressive. Taking advantage of the present chaos in the religious world and a divided, messageless, disintegrating Protestantism, the Papacy is pressing her present opportunity to the full. Her towering ambitions take in the world, and her more than earthly wisdom is capitalizing every development. Cleverly she adapts herself to all conditions—enlightenment or ignorance, freedom or repression, prosperity or adversity. This adaptability was much in evidence at the Octave.
The present situation in the Protestant world—particularly in Europe—was submitted as evidence of the fundamental fallacy of Protestantism's premise and proof of her fatal mistake in breaking away from the mother church. Look, her spokesman said, at the chaos exhibited in North America's two hundred discordant sects. Rent by division and schism, emasculated by the evolution theory, and corroded by liberalism with its higher critical rejection of the Bible as divinely authoritative, Protestants have no longer any source of authority but human reason, which now has failed them. Rome even stands today as the declared defender of the abandoned Bible! Such is the anomaly of the situation.
Not for one moment was there mention or admission of the fact that it is departure from the platform of true Protestantism—the Bible as the inspired and final word of God and the infallible rule of faith—that has brought the woe and confusion of present chaos to the world; or that it is such departure that has made possible rationalistic criticism, the evolution theory, and the secularized education that is now emasculating faith and disrupting a divided Protestantism. But such is the fundamental fallacy of her contention. The skepticism, radicalism, and atheism rampant in the world about were, of course, all set forth as the baleful and inevitable fruits of Protestantism's break away from the bosom and teachings of the Roman church. And granting her premises, her conclusions are inescapable.
Nominal Protestantism cannot meet her arguments. Without the light of divine prophecy, which Protestants have largely rejected, one cannot discern with certainty the dragon character behind the lamblike voice. And only under the prophetic perspective of Daniel 7 and Revelation 13 and 17, plus a substantial acquaintance with reliable non-Catholic history, can one see through and meet her adroit reasonings. Neither can there be certainty for nominal Protestants—in view of the clashing contentions of secularized historians—as to the real, historic character of the Papacy, without the floodlights of understanding that have been focused upon her career through the witness of the Spirit of prophecy.
The battle of the Reformation (the "revolution" or "apostasy," as Rome calls it) is on again, only this time Protestantism's forces are stripped of power, conviction, and authority. Rome speaks indeed with an impressive voice of authority—the authority of antiquity and of consistency with her historic platform of tradition as the inseparable complement and only true interpreter of Scripture. She speaks with the psychological advantage of increasing strength and solidarity in a world that is groping blindly, in which a Protestantism is crumbling and disintegrating. And Rome now has her eyes on the millions of the Orient and of Africa. Her next great push is to be made in that direction, her spokesmen say; and she is now training her priests for that great drive.
It is only because we as a movement consistently and persistently cling to Scripture alone as the sole rule of infallible authority, refusing to accept Catholicism's subversive traditions—and her Sunday sabbath as the seal of her ecclesiastical authority—that we can consistently meet her charges. Only thus can we turn her arguments which bring dismay to other Protestants as they face her chidings concerning a collapsing world. Only thus will we be saved from the deception that will soon engulf the world.
Each service of the Octave concluded with the "Universal Papal Hymn," or "Hymn for the Pope," which sets forth Rome's claims and concepts, and her vaunting ambitions for the full restoration of lost powers and prerogatives. Its significant words follow:
"Long live the Pope! His praises sound
Again and yet again:
His rule is over space and time;
His throne the hearts of men:
All hail ! the shepherd-king of Rome,
The theme of loving song:
Let all the earth his glory sing,
And heav'n the strain prolong.
"Beleaguered by the foes of earth,
Beset by hosts of hell,
He guards the loyal flock of Christ,
A watchful sentinel;
And yet, amid the din and strife,
The clash of mace and sword,
He bears alone the shepherd staff,
This champion of the Lord.
"His signet is the fisherman's;
No scepter does he bear;
In meek and lowly majesty
He rules from Peter's chair:
And yet from ev'ry tribe and tongue,
From ev'ry clime and zone,
Three hundred million voices sing
The glory of his throne."
