History shows that the Catholic Church from the day that she was founded has constantly sought to fulfill the commission entrusted to her by her Divine Founder: “Go ye into the whole world, and preach the Gospel to every creature” (St. Mark xvi.15), and that whatever influence she has exerted over men has been for the accomplishment of this great object. She has so consistently delivered her message to men without distinction of race, color, or rank, that if she has shown any preference in this regard it has been for the poor and unfortunate members of the human family rather than for the rich and powerful of the earth.
Father Henry Wyman, C.S.P., Certainty in Religion (1909)