CATHOLIC CONGRESS

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 256, 21 June 1932, Page 5

CATHOLIC CONGRESS

,'Press Assn.-

UNION JACK BARRED AND GOYERN OR-GENERAL IGNORED % RECEPTION TO LEGATE There were remarkable scen.es of emotional and religious fervdur when the Eucharistic Congress op[ened. at Du|blin, Ibut th(e jarrijiig note of polit'ical prejudioes has already obtruded itself. The Irish Republican Army.lias forbidden the flying of the TJnion Jack in the city, while no invitation has been issued to the Governor-General, Mr. James McNeill to attend the official reception to the .Papal Legate. De Valera's supporters state that if Mr. McNeill attends the function, they will leave.

— By Telegr'/ipb — Copyrlght).

LONDON, Monday. Landing at Folkestone, amid cheers of an immense crowd, Cardinal Lauri, the Papal delegate to the Eucharistic Congress, was the centre of an amazing display of religious enthusiasm. When the special train reached London a priest mounted on a chair led the singing and cheering of the concourse, which represented every station in life. Priests, nuns, silk-hatted men, stylish women, and drab suburbanites, swarmed the platform, crowded the roadway, clustered the bridges and stood on the steps. Cardinal Lauri, who is a whiteheaded, be-spectacled man, was arrayed in a red cassock and a black robe. He smiled from the window and men, women and children fell on their knees on the station platform to receive his blessing. A sudden emotional turmoil grip-

ped the throng of men, and women fought to kiss the Gardinal's ring. Others threw themselves on the platform and pressed their lips to the hem of his garment. The crowd surged forward as the more remote spectators struggled to approach. Girls and women cried and laughed, while men shouted and wept uncontrollably. The police and bodyguard of priests were compelled to exert their utmost efforts to prevent the Cardinal being crushed. As he was led back to his compartment the Cardinal, smiling with joy, continued blessing all in sight. Supreme efforts by the police and railway staff were needed to stop the people jumping on the line and following the receding train.