"WITHOUT BIG IDEALS"

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 855, 29 June 1910, Page 5

"WITHOUT BIG IDEALS"

— ♦ ANGLICAN CHURCH IN AUSTRALIA. THE ACCESSION OATH. Dγ Telesraph-Pross Association-Copyridit. Brisbane, Juno 28. The Anglican Bishop of North Queensland (Dr, Frodsharo), in his address to tho North Queensland Synod, said the Church in Australia was a somewhat dispirited army, without more than nominal cohesion, wrangling about the ritual, jealous of change, and largely without big ideals. Ho protested against the English Church Association—a very conglomerate and noisy body—in their opposition to tho proposed alteration of the King's Accession Oath. He had no wish to break tho Protestant succession, but considered it unnecessary to couch the Declaration in intolerant language. That was unfair to Roman Catholics, who were as loyal to the King as any. TWO POINTS OF VIEW. The Church Association represents the views of the extreme Protestant section of the Anglican Church, which has strongly opposed the modification of the Accession Oath. They 'contend that tho declaration in its present form is necessary in order to safeguard the Protestant succession. At a recent meeting the London Council of United Protestant Societies, representing fifty national and provincial societies, protested against nny alteration in the form of t|iq Sovereign's Protostaut Declaration. The other side is stated by tho "Church Times" (Anglican) as follows:—"It is as gratifying as it is remarkable to perceive how tho preaching of a sanor doctrino has brought to the English mind tho ; conviction that common decency requires the purging of the Declaration from offence. It concerns overy decent Pro- . testant as much as tho most ardent Romanist to substitute for this offensive Declaretion $01110 forni of which shall effectively safeguard tho Succession, and yet hurt no man's religious susceptibilities." The "Tablet" (Roman Catholic) states: —"The main things wo waut our coqntryment t.o understand to-day are, first, that wo have no wish to inerfere with the Protestant Succession; and, secondly, that we object in the strongest possible way to having the central and most' sacred doctrine, of the Catholic faith selected by the Sovereign for public denial, A simple declaration by the King that he adhered to the Protestant faith' would offend ikh body, and wpuld do all that is wanted." The "Nation" (Liberal) says:—"The present phrasing of flip Declaration js, offensive largely because it was meant to trap a King of the . Stuart type who hypooritically concealed his Catholioism. Roman Catholics a,ro willing that the confession of Protestantism should stand unqualified, but they object to tho abusive characterisation of Catholic doctrine."