CATHOLIC ACTION FOR LIBEL.

Patea Mail, Volume II, Issue 134, 22 July 1876, Page 2

CATHOLIC ACTION FOR LIBEL.

In late telegrams we received information that Mr George Bell,- proprietor of the' Dunedin Evening Sitar, had been'Comtnitted for trial on a charge of criminal libel.The case Was first hcrird on the 11th inst., and the following telegraphic report of it was published in the Lyttelton Times oh the following day “ The libel action instituted by Bishop Moran, against Mr G.Bell) of the EvenincfSidr, was heard in the Resident Magistrate’s Court, this afternoon,before Mr J. Dathgate', R.M., and Mr T. A. Mansford, R. M.,- iri the presence of a full bar and crowded Corirt.The defendant was proceeded against “ for wilfully causing to he printed and fmblished, in the Evening Stdr newspaper, a false,- scandalous, and malicious libel of and Concerning the Roman Catholic clergymen of Dunedin, aforesaid,’ being officebearers, branches of organisations,- of the Roman Catholic church, under th’e' Control and supervision of the Most Rev. Patrick Morari, Roirian Catholic Bishop, of Dunedin aforesaid, .in the vords following—') The Tudpefed Tiriies says it is reported that A Rev. Father of the Roman Catholic Church, Dunedin, has thrtfwrt off the trammels of the Church, and followed the example of Pere Hyacinthe, of Parisian celebrity, by taking unto himself a wife. The fair one is reported to possess considerable charms,and dt orie time is sard to have been numbered with the Dunedin Sisters of Mercy” —to the scandal of the religious body, known as the Roriian Catholic Church, and against the' peace of our Lady the Qxteeri;

her crown and dignity, being an indictable offence." Mr H. Howorth, for defendant, pleaded “ Not guilty.” Mr Macassey appeared for the informant with Mr M‘Kay. Mr Howorth, before the case was proceeded with, wished to draw his Worship’s attention to an article appearing .hi the New Zealand Tablet, referring to this 'case, and which was prejudicial to the defendant’s case. Mr Macassey submitted that his learned friend was not in order. The Chart was here for the special purpose of holding an inquiry. Mr Macassey opened the case for the informant, lie stated that this was the first time, during a long and active life, that Bishop Moran had found it necessary to challenge the proprietor of a newspaper with the propriety of any article written by him ; at all events to challenge it in a Court of Justice. It would have been possible to institute civil proceedings, as no person was directly alluded to, and defendant could have pleaded guilt}' and that no one had sustained actual damage. Defendant might say in mitigation that he was hot the originator of the scandal. The 'Tuapeka T iVties, in which the scandal first Appeared, was a paper with a small circulation, and when the scandal was rc-pub-lished in a paper with the circulation of the Star, the offence became aggravated instead of mitigated. When such a statement appeared in a Dunedin paper it was telegraphed all ovef the Cqlon.y, and probably all over the world. In the Supreme Court it bad been ruled that any' person could set the law of libel in motion, so Bishop Moran’s right to take action could not be questioned. Evidences were then taken. James Cahill, law clerk, deposed that if any Eoman Catholic clergyman was guilty of taking a wife, neither witness nor his friends would associate with him. If he read the paragraph as a stranger here, he would infer that a Eoman Catholic clergyman had thrown off his vows, and married ’a lady at the Convent. Cross-examined : We are taught by the Church, which is our faith, that if a Roman Catholic clergyman marries, he throws off the trammels of th'e Church. If a Roman Catholic clergyman here did so I would shun him as a convict, and more than that, a priest can never have his vows absolved. He would be cut off as a rotten branch. John Griffin, J.P., said he was a merchant, carrying on business in Dunedin. He was, and always had been, of the Roman Catholic faith. He had read the paragraph referred to ill the Evening Star of July 3. As a Eoman Catholic, and as a colonist of fifteen years’ standing, he stated that he had never, in the whole course of his colonial career, read a paragraph which had given him so much pain. It was a scandalous libel. He interpreted the 'paragraph as Cleaning that a priest belonging to Dunedin had ceased to be a priest, and taken unto himself a wife. From the local it would appear that a Sister of Mercy had thrown off her vows and been married. He wAs nbt aV/arc that there was such a society of nubs as the Sister of Mercy. There was a convent here of the (Order of St. Dominic. He thought there were eight nuns here. In the absence of such a society as the Sisters of Mercy, he should have taken the fair ohe’lto refer to one of the Order o£ St. Dominic. The marriage of Pero Hyacinthe, which was referred to, occasioned great scandal in the Church. He would simply detest a clergyman who threw off his trahltrlels: . Cross-examined : He never took ninth trouble to read Martin Luther. Ho only knew he was a very naughty man. (Laughter). Witness complained that Mr Howarth wished to make an historian of linn, while he never professed to be one. He was not aware that in the early ages Of the church, pribsts wore allowed to be married. The paragraph certainly related to an Otago clergyman; ibid should be looked upon as a domestic scandal. lie did not believe there were “ trammels’* of the church. Any pefson becoming a priest or member of the Church, should do so of his own free will. Frank Petro, C.E., paid that he belonged to the Roman Catholic Churclu If any name had been mentioned in the matter,ho should have thought the party had committed perjury of such a nature, that looking at it in a spiritual light, it would have been perjury of the gravest nature that a Roman Catholic could bb guilty of. Any Roman Catholic clergyman who married in the manner spoken of, would be shunned by his co-feligionists. Great importance was attached to vows of celibacy. Knowing that no such Order as the Sisters of Mercy existed in Dunedin, he should think the pbrson writing had mistaken the Order for that of Bt Do.riinic. He should read the paragraph as a direct attack on the Order of Nuns, by conveying the imputation that one of their number had broken her vows and married.

Cross-examined : My opinion is that Pore Hyacinthe would not bo received amongst respectable society outside of bis own Church. John D. Connor, printer staled that he belonged to the Roman Catholic Church. The local in the Evening Star, of July 3, produced the impression On his mind tlidt a great wrong had bach doile to the Catholic persuasion in this Colony. When he tlrst read it, he took it to mean that one of the clergymen who resided in Dunedin had broken the voiVs of.a Catholic priest, and hiamed- one of tile..ntins resident in Dunedirl. All Catholics wOuld regard such a perSori aS having fallen to the very lowest depths to Vdiich mortal men Could possibly fall. It created it Very grievous feeling in him when he first read it. , , Michael t'leiliing said, that lid was a merabst of thd Ediiian Catholic Church. He had read the local in the Evening Star, arid considered that a gredt wrong was therein done to the Catholics of New Zealand. He should coilsider a priest who iVas married, as no person, as a rotten brailch of the Church. He knew the local had occasioned great feeling amongst the Catholics. Bishop Moran stated that he had been a Roman Catholic Bishop for upwards Of twenty years. By the allusion to Pere Hyacinthe contained in tile paragraph in Star, he understood that it charged one of the Catholic priests Of , Dunedin with having broken the vows of celibacy. The penalty to a Roman Catholic clergyman for marrying is suspension, excommunication, and deposition. Any niiri VriiQ married a priest would be exconimuni-

cated; and, accbrtlhlg W the law 1 of the Church, would incur perpetual imprisonment, I'ere Hyacirithe’s marriage occasioned the most grievous scandal, and tin? most intense j/ahi to 'All Catholics. There was not the least foundation - for'the statement that one of Ids clergy had thrown off the trammels of the Church and taken a wife. They had no order of Sisters of Mercy, but,, they had an order of St. Dominic. There was rio truth in the suggestion that a nun had been married to a priest. Cross-examined : I gtri'o direct ions for taking proceedings against the Tuapeha 'Times on the same day. I have not yot sworn to the information. I have made no inquiry whatever as to the circumstances under which the Star published this paragraph, and I take proceedings against Mr 801 l because he is the proprietor of the paper. At the close of Bishop Moran’s crossexamination, Mr Howorth asked for time to consider whether he should call witnesses for the defence. The case was adjourned, Mr Bell being admitted to bail on his own recognisance of £IOO, and at a subsequent hearing committed for trial.