“Every citizen, and every sojourner in this country, who is loyal to the Roman Catholic Church, is an enemy to our government, of necessity, for he yields his highest allegiance to the Pope of Rome, a foreign potentate, who has time and again anathematized every fundamental principle of our government. He has denounced liberty of conscience, freedom of speech and of press, freedom of worship and of teaching, as pestilent and damnable heresies; destructive to order, and to the peace and welfare of society. The highest dignitaries of this so called church have declared their purpose to make this a Roman Catholic country; but to do this it must be brought to the acceptance of the Pope of Rome as Christ’s vice-regent, or representative on earth, invested with all temporal and spiritual authority; above all kings, emperors, and civil rulers; the supreme judge and lawgiver, whose decisions are infallible and final. This would make him lord of the conscience and master of the actions of all men throughout his dominion, which is nothing less than the earth. These are his monstrous claims; and his priests, of all grades, including the wily Jesuits, are laboring night and day to make them good in this land of ours. . . .
Is there no danger when the Roman Hierarchy quarters its wily agents in the capital of our nation to exert their influence in shaping our laws, and in controlling Presidential appointments to the highest and most important offices? Is there not danger when all our politicians who aspire to national fame feel that in order to succeed they must truckle to Rome, and be submissive? Is there not danger when the capital of our nation has been captured by the wily Jesuit, and Washington is literally ‘in the lap of Rome?’ Go into any and all of the departments of our government and find seven elevenths of the government employees in several of them, abject slaves of the Pope, and tell me is there no danger? Go into all of our cities and larger towns and find our municipal governments in the hands of the faithful servants of this foreign despot, the Pope, and who are corruptly administering their affairs to enrich the church at the expense of the people, and tell me, is there no danger? Contemplate this alien and dangerous power in complete control of three-fourths of our newspapers and periodicals, and tell me, is there no danger? . . . It is clear that Rome is rapidly getting control of all the sources of power in the United States, both in civil and military affairs; that she is doing so in pursuance of a well considered and wisely laid plan, and for the very purpose of subverting our government” {10} [Emphasis added]
Thomas M. Harris,
1897 Brigadier General, U.S. Army
Rome’s Responsibility for the Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
