MOVING WORDS

Waikato Times, Volume 124, Issue 20731, 15 February 1939, Page 8

MOVING WORDS

POPE’S GREAT WORK AN INSPIRING TRIBUTE CRUSADER FOR PEACE (By Teieg-raph—Press Association) AUCKLAND, Wednesday “May tfie welcome of God and the light of heaven be now the reward of the soul of Pious XI.” With these moving woyds Bishop Liston began a sermon in St. Patrick's Cathedral this morning during the observance of Pontifical Requiem Mass for the repose of the soul of the late Pope. There was a packed attendance. In an impressive tribute Bishop Liston said: “Volumes will be written about the 17 years of Pious XI., his activities and achievements. History will speak of him as the Pope of peace, the herald of the Reign of Christ in the world, the crusader, maybe the greatest of all time, for Catholic missions to pagan lands, the indefatigable promoter of the Catholic layman's apostolate, the patron of studies, art and science. “With a master’s hand he defined the constitution of the State, the ideals of family and the Christian education of the young,” said the Bishop. “He has sustained and encouraged his own Catholic children and has been an intrepid defender of the. faith and of the rights of man in the days when the State in some lands is placing itself above God and crushing the soul of man. Concern for World Evils “Yet his chief claim to greatness, it seems to me, lies in this, that while he has asserted and expounded the rights of God in a world so largely estranged from him, he has thought with concern and love of the ordinary man who is oppressed by the great evils of injustice, war and fear of war. These evils he has described with clearness and just as clearly set forth remedies for them. “It is difficult, not to say impossible, for peace to endure among nations if instead of true love of country there is found a spirit of hard nationalism that is hatred and envy instead of friendliness, suspicion in place of trust, competition instead of co-operation, greed) ambition instead of respect. “Taken World to Heart” “To govern in justice and charity, not for destruction, and to remember that there is no power but from God, Pious has been our spiritual father, and this is a family sorrow, but he has taken to his heart the whole world of men and streams of their admiration and affection have flowed into him. May his brave, noble, fatherly, priestly soul rest in peace and plead with God for the world's peace.”