PAPAL LEGATE.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 3839, 1 September 1928, Page 3

PAPAL LEGATE.

MESSAGE TO PEOPLE OF NEW ZEALAND. Sydney, August 30. Cardinal Ceretti, with other distinguished leaders of the Roman Catholic Church, arrived in Sydney this morning on board the Orama, and was welcomed by the local dignitaries. The Cardinal, in a special message to the people of New Zealand, handed to the Press Association, through the courtesy of Bishop Cleary, says: “It is indeed a very great pleasure to visit, after an absence of thirteen years, the Commonwealth of Australia. If circumstances permit, a no less pleasure should be mine in visiting the unforgettable Islands of New Zealand. NEW ZEALAND’S NATURAL BEAUTIES. “I can well remember the sentiments of surprise and admiration experienced by me on visiting that privileged land of such wonderful beauty. Its lofty mountains, its flower-decked plains, its crystal lakes, reminded me forcibly of my own fair land of Italy. The natural riches of the country astonish the visitor, and then there are industries so varied and so prolific, but most of all does the stranger to its shores wonder at those marvellous thermal regions for which the islands are famous, but, far beyond that, the abundant fertility of its soil. Yea, even more than the wondrous energy of its people do I recall the kindly, generous enthusiasm with which the people received me on my first, but I hope not my last, visit to New Zealand. Citizens, without distinction of class or creed, bade me welcome and did all in their way to make my visit agreeable. TRIBUTE TO MAORI PEOPLE. “In a special manner does my memory retain the enthusiastic manifestations of the kind and brave Maori people and the lively impression created in witnessing their quaint and significant customs lingers still in my mind, and speaks volumes for the noble traditions of the Natives of that interesting land. “Truly, New Zealand is a wonderful land —wonderful in what it has been and wonderful in what it is, and, as Nature seems to have showered her choicest blessings on it, so may the good God send His abundant blessings on its generous, hospitable people. It is then with deep affection and with grateful memory that I pray our dear Lord to bless that beautiful land and its gentle, noble people.” SPECTACULAR PROCESSION FROM WHARF. The procession of motor-cars containing church dignitaries left the Peninsular Wharf at Woolloomooloo Bay at 10 o’clock for St. Mary’s Cathedral. The whole route for a mile and a half was lined with children from the Catholic schools. The rich dressings of the insignia of rank of the various orders, enhanced by many quaint national dresses from foreign lands, made this preliminary public display wonderfully 'spectacular, and such as has never hitherto been seen in Australia.