SOCIETIES
71
SOCIETIES
or political advantage, such as the ordinary trades-
unions. In such organizations men of every variety
of religious belief combine together, and many Catho-
lics are found among the members. There can be no
objection to such societies as long as the end intended
and the means employed are licit and honourable.
It remains, however, the duty of the bishops to see
that members of their flock suffer no diminution of
faith or contamination of morals from such organiza-
tions. Experience has proved that secular societies,
while perfectly unobjectionable in their avowed ends,
may cause grave spiritual danger to their members.
Bishops and parish priests can not be blamed, there-
fore, if they display some anxiety as to membership
in societies which are not avowedly Catholic. If they
did otherwise, they would be false to their duty to-
wards their flock. It may be well to quote here the
weighty w'ords of an Instruction of the Holy Office
(10 May, 1884): "Concerning artisans and labourers,
among whom various societies are especially desirous
of securing members that they may destroy the very
foundations of religion and society, let the bishops
place before their eyes the ancient guilds of working-
men, which, under the protection of some patron
saint, were an ornament of the commonwealth and an
aid to the higher and lower arts. They will again
found such societies for men of commercial and liter-
ary pursuits, in which the exercises of religion will go
hand in hand with the benevolent aims that seek to
assuage the ills of sickness, old age, or poverty. Those
who preside over such societies should see that the
members commend themselves by the probity of their
morals, the excellence of their work, the docility and
assiduity of their labours, so that they may more
securely provide for their sustenance. Let the bishops
themselves not refuse to watch over such societies, sug-
gest or approve by-laws, conciliate employers, and give
every assistance and patronage that lie in their power."
There are many societies of Catholics or societies
of which Catholics are members that employ methods
which seem imitations derived from various organiza-
tions prohibited by the Church. It may be well,
therefore, to state that no Catholic is allowed, as a
member of any society whatever, to take an oath of
blind and unlimited obedience; or promise secrecy of
such a nature that, if circumstances require it, he
may not reveal certain things to the lawful ecclesiasti-
cal or civil authorities; or join in a ritual which would
be equivalent to sectarian worship (see Societies,
Secret). Even when a society is founded by Cath-
lics or is constituted principally of Catholics, it is
possible for it to degenerate into a harmful organi-
zation and call for the intervention of the authority
of the Church. Such was the fate of the once bril-
liant and meritorious French society "Le Sillon",
which was condemned by Pius X (2.5 Aug., 1910).
It is often expedient for Catholic societies to be in-
corporated by the civil authority as private corpora-
tions. In fact, this is necessary if they wish to possess
property or receive bequests in their own name. In
some countries, as Russia, such incorporation is
almost impossible; in others, as Germany and France,
the Government makes many restrictions; but in
English-speaking countries there is no difficulty. In
England societies may be incorporated not only by
special legal act, but also by common law or by pre-
scription. In the United States a body corporate
may be formed only by following the plan proposed
by a law of Congress or a statute of a state legisla-
ture. The procedure varies slightly in different
states, but as a rule incorporation is cfTected by filing
a paper in the office of the secretary of state or with a
circuit judge, stating the object and methods of the
society. Three incorporators are sufficient, and the
petition will always lie granted if the purposes
of the association are not inconsistent with the laws of
the United States or of the particular state in question.
Laubentius. Tnstituiiones juris ecdesiastici (Fribourg, 1905);
Wernz, Jus decretalium. III (Rome, 1901); Aichner, Compen-
dium juris ecdesiastici (Brixcn, 1S95); Berinqer, Die AbUisse
(I3th ed., Paderborn, 1911; I-rcnoh tr., 1905); Taylor, The Law
0/ Private Corporations (New York, 1902); Handbook o{ Catholic
Charitable and Social Works tLondon. 1912).
William H. W. Fanning.
Societies, Catholic, American Federation of, an organization of the CathoUc laity, parishes, and societies under the guidance of the hierarchy, to protect and advance their rehgious, civil, and social interests. It does not destroy the autonomy of any society or interfere with its activities, but seeks to unite all of them for purposes of co-operation and economy of forces. It is not a political organization, neither does it ask any privileges or favours for Cath- olics. The pripcipal object of the Federation is to encourage (1) the Christian education of youth; (2) the correction of error and exposure of falsehood and injustice; the destruction of bigotry; the placing of Catholics and the Church in their true light, thus re- moving the obstacles that have hitherto impeded their progress; (3) the infusion of Christian principles into public and social life, by combatting the errors threat- ening to undermine the foundations of civil society, notably socialism, divorce, dishonesty in business, and corruption in poUtics and positions of public trust. The first organization to inaugurate the movement for a concerted action of the societies of Catholic laymen was the Knights of St. John. At their annual meeting held at Cleveland in 1899 they resolved to unite the efforts of their local commanderies. In 1900 at Philadelphia they discussed the question of a fed- eration of all the Catholic societies. As a result a convention was held on 10 Dec, 1901, at Cincinnati, under the presidency of Mr. H. J. Fries. Two hun- dred and fifty delegates were present under the guid- ance of Bishop McFaul of Trenton, Bishop Mcssmer of Green Bay, now Archbishop of Milwaukee, the princi- pal factors in the organization of the movement. Arch- bishop Elder of Cincinnati, Bishop Ilorstmann of Cleveland, and Bishop Maes of Covington. A. char- ter bond was framed and the Fcdcmtion formally established, with Mr. T. B. Min:ihan as its first presi- dent. Since then annual conventions have been held. The Federation represents close to two million Catholics. It has been approved by Popes Leo XIII and Pius X, and practically all the hierarchy of the country. The fruits of the labours of the organiza- tion have been manifold; among other things it has helped to obtain a fair settlement of the disputes con- cerning the church property in the Philippines, per- mission for the celebnation of Mass in the navy-yards, prisons, reform schools; assistance for the Catholic Indian schools and negro missions; the withdrawal and prohibition of indecent plays and post-cards. It has prevented the enactment of laws inimical to Catholic interests in several state legislatures. One of its chief works has been the uniting of the Catholics of different nationalities, and harmonizing their efforts for self-protection and improvement. It pub- lishes a monthly Bulletin, which contains valuable social studies. The national secretary is Mr. Anthony Matrc, Victoria Building, St. Louis, Missouri.
Matr£, Hist, of the Feder. of Cath. Sor. in The Catholic Colum- bian (Columbus. Ohio, 18 Aug., 1911); McFaul, The Amer. Feder. ofCath.Soc. (Cincinnati, 1911).
A. A. MacErlean.
Societies, Secret, a designation of which the exact meaning has varied at different times. I. Defini- tion. — "By a secret society was formerly meant a society which was known to exist, but whose members and places of meetings were not publicly known. To-day, we understand by a secret society, a society with secrets, having a ritual demanding an oath of allegiance and secrecy, prescribing ceremonies of & rehgious character, such as the use of the Bible, either
