NESTORIAN PRIESTS.

Gisborne Times, Volume XIX, Issue 1660, 29 January 1906, Page 2

NESTORIAN PRIESTS.

BISHOP JULIUS DECLINES TO RECEIVE THEM.

Regarding the two so called Nestorian priests who are travelling through New Zealand, Bishop Julius, when seen by a Christchurch Press representative, Btatesl that the strangers had called ou him, and he had deolined to receive them. He knew nothing against these two Oriental missionaries in particular, but his experience of previous visitors, ooming with similar stories from the same patt of the world, bad made him very auspicious of them generally. From time to time EO-oalled priests of Oriental churches had paid visits here, and he had found several of them to be utter frauds. Every pair that came, when told of the false dealings of previous visitors, had explained, “ Ob, but they were of a different church,” or that they oame from another place. There was one standard tost of the genuineness of such missionaries, which the present visitors to Christchurch were unable to fulfil. The Eastern patriarchs have definitely undertaken to send through the Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem, Bishop Blytb, credentials in all cases in which they sanotion an appeal for funds, and these credentials the visitors could not show.

11 Unless,” said Bishop Julius, “ these visiting Syrians, or Chaldeans,or whatever they may be oal'ed, who come to us from time to time, present that credential, certified to by the bishop of the diooesp, I trust my people will have nothing to do with them.”

The bishop said that the latest visitors were apparently not Nestorians, as they had been called, or at any rate, when they were askjed if they had aiy connection with two previous meodtoants who termed them Nestorians, they Baid there was no connection whatever. It had been notioed in the past, the bisbop stated, that some of tbe religious mendicants from tho East who went round and round the colonies had never returned home, they kept no statement of account?, and no one knew whether the money went home, or what became of it.

“ They are plausible.” Bishop Julius added, “ but they are Orientals, and they would not be worth their ealt, if they were not."

Archdeaoon Gould, who had been led to speak in their defenop, had only their own word to ro upoD. As a matter of faot, there wbb an Anglican mission under the Archbishop of Canterbury to the Assyrian churches for tbe purpose of supporting and strengthening and lifting them from their present feeble and half -dead, condition, If people wanted to give to tho Assyrian ohuroheß he would be pleased to receive the money and forward it for the purpose to the Archbishop of Canterbury, in which case there" would be no doubt whatever of its reaching its destination,