ROMAN-CATHOLIC CONGRESS;

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1551, 21 September 1912, Page 9

ROMAN-CATHOLIC CONGRESS;

ADDRESS -BY-CARDINAL ■ BOURSE. , • The, third National Catholic Congress was opened-at'Norwich, , on August 2 The Cardinal Archbishop of. Westminster in his presidential address, recalled t letter by Pope Leo XIII in 1895 and his action two years later, with the object of facilitating the return of England te tho' Catholic , faith. The Cardinal wen< on to suy he desired to place before there somo. thoughts that, deniauded their urgent consideration if the England"'which, called forth such earnest longings from th< heart of Leo XIII was ever to play, thai part in the promotion of the unity of Christendom which might one day be entrusted to her. In speaking of England ho was thinking of that wider and greatei world which looked to England as it; centre of Government, or at least , as the old Motherland. Ho wished to considci the growth and expansion of tho Englishspeaking races since the great schism, o< the sixteenth . century, the place -winoL they at present held in the religionworld and the part that they ought tc play in the future in restoring to the Christian world that allegiance to tho Se< Apostolic wherein alone might, unity-ol faith bs found. So widespread and power nil had tho ' English-speaking race be come that no reunion .of Christianity could be imagined if that race was lef'l outside its pale. It .was a problem a; great as tho world had ever seen, and they might well lose heart werb'its solution to depend entirely on human means Whence were they to find the power oi gradually building up in the vast area of the English-speaking races tho old idea of Catholic niiily and of breaking down tho misconceptions which made its acceptance so difficult? There weru somo whe might hope to find it among themselves, but their nmntors were too'small. Thev were surrounded by a Protestantism which had become part and parcel of the State. They had to outlive the dire consequences of the complete- destruction of Ihe ancient ecclesiastical hierarchy of England, and (lie outliving would" (nko long. It was to others they mnst look. Doubtless there were some who ■ expected tn find in the grent Church of the United States of America, (lie centre of the efforts to bring the minds of those who spokn the English tongue into obedience to the Holy See, but the brethren across the seas were handienpped by an already long and deeply-rooted Protestant tradition, and with other masons, would make the task as long and toilsome'as Ihat here. The Catholics of Australia. New Zml.iikl, India, anil other parts of the British Empire would do their part, but it could hardly become the main influence iu the return of the English-speak-ing world to tho Catholic Church. The country which seemed destined to take, tho loading place in bridging over tho chasm was Canada. It was there that they would'naturally look for a link that would uuite all who used the English speech. .Two years ago he expressed these thoughts at tho great Eucharistio Congress at Montreal, and it.was hinted that he was playing a political part. Ho now affirmed, for the satisfaction of all his critics, fair and unfair unlike, that what he then said he believed with all his heart, and that ho believed it now with, if possible. What, then, was the divinely given mission of Hie Church in Canada? In the first place that Church possessed already in magnificent measure the traditions of the'anciput Church of France, so closely united ivith the Cliurch of England duriii" many centuries, in sorrow and in joy. RoinovDtl from the civil control of Ffnncc when [hat control might liavn prnrvtl fatal t<. bntli faith and morals, the French-Caiia-;lians had under another rule preserved lo themselves a freedom of religious government .and possibilities of inlclloctual Milture such as had been enjoyed l>v Catholics to the same degree in*no oilier nru-t oi tho British Empire. Faith and language had until recent times worked hand in hand iu Canada, and there was no one surely who would desire that the influence of the French language should ;vcr be lessened among those tn whom it meant so. much., :\nil fur whom it had ivrouglit an untold good. Those gifted with far sight predicted hat i< day would come when the main•■ontre .of th'U .Empire must inevitably be 'Miffed-further west, and 'when the .v.cice hat-spoke in.Ottawa. or.-Winni|i?-* would "<ik<? :i lari«>r claim unon Hie world's car than the. .voice that Igd the Parliament

at Westminster. • As Canadians had consecrated the language inherited from trance to llio preservation and development of the- Christian faith, so now were thoy called upon by God to purify.and , consecrate to His service another Inuguo which for so long had been almost exclusively in\ opposition to unity of faith. Ho doubted, if at any time so great and glorious and far-reaching a- mission , .had ■ been given to any church, and if success attended it the result would out-rival the conquests of .the- apostle of any single nation in the past.