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The Catholic Encyclopedia, as its name implies, proposes to give its readers full and authoritative information on the entire content of Catholic interests, action and doctrine.
What the Church teaches and has taught; what she has done and is still doing for the highest welfare of mankind;
her methods, past and present;
her struggles, her triumphs, and the achievements of her members, not only for her own immediate benefit, but for the broadening and deepening of all true science, literature and art -- all come within the scope of the Catholic Encyclopedia.
It differs from the general encyclopedia in omitting facts and information which have no relation to the Church. On the other hand, it is not exclusively a church encyclopedia, nor is it limited to the ecclesiastical sciences and the doings of churchmen. It records all that Catholics have done, not only on behalf of charity and morals, but also for the intellectual and artistic development of mankind.
It chronicles what Catholic artists, educators, poets, scientists and men of action have achieved in their several endeavors. In this respect it differs from most other Catholic encyclopedias.
The Editors are fully aware that there is no specifically Catholic science, that mathematics, physiology and other branches of human knowledge are neither Catholic, Jewish, nor Protestant; but when it is commonly asserted that Catholic principles are an obstacle to scientific research, it seems not only proper but needful to register what and how much Catholics have contributed to every department of knowledge.
No one who is interested in human history, past and present, can ignore the Catholic Church, either as an institution which has been the central figure in the civilized world for two thousand years, decisively affecting its destinies, religious, literary, scientific, social and political, or as an existing power whose influence and activity extend to every part of the globe.
In the past century and a half, the Church as grown both extensively and intensively among English-speaking peoples. Their living interests demand that they should have the means of informing themselves about this vast institution, which, whether they are Catholics or not, affects their fortunes and their destiny.
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