CATHOLIC NEWSPAPERS.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume IV, Issue 178, 25 August 1876, Page 10

CATHOLIC NEWSPAPERS.

Some few months ago we hailed with pleasure the appearance of a Catholic newspaper, which then began to be published in Adelaide under the name of the ' South Australian Tablet.' It was a newspaper which plainly showed judicious and able editing, and we hoped that a long and, necessarily, a useful career lay before it ; but we regret to say that we were mistaken, for, having run but a short course, it has ceased to exist, and all that the gentlemen interested in its promotion seem to think that they shall succeed in maintaining in its place, is a monthly publication, which will contain information on Catholic matters. We much regret that this journal has been allowed to fall to the ground, for of all things, in the present state of society,

a Catholic newspaper is a necessity in every Catholic household. We say it is a necessity, because, now-a-days, there are but few households wherein a newspaper is not read, and wherein, consequently, failing the presence of a Catholic journal, there is not received a constant series of misrepresentations concerning the Catholic Church, her ministers, and all who belong to her. The non-Catholic press is so thoroughly saturated with prejudice against all things connected with the faith, that it seems hardly possible for those who write in it to pen a paragraph, which admits of a sneer at^the Church, without introducing such a sneer at least. Some Protestant journals are openly our enemies ; some, whose policy it is to seem "all things to all men," make a feint of being friendly to us ; but, whether by open expression in so many words, or by sly hints so as to escape the notice of the ui;wary, it is sought to bring the Catholic religion into contempt, and, if. possible, even to turn the minds of Catholics themselves against it. One newspaper, writing in Protestant interests, and careless of the support of Catholics, inserts in its columns shameless and often refuted calumnies ; another, not so well established, and touting for the patronage of all parties, shuns such plain speaking, but, nevertheless, betrays its spirit in a manner perhaps even more objectionable because insidious. The one will loudly condemn the priests of the Church as well as their doctrine ; the other will praise the men, but imply that their teaching is mistaken ; and of the two, if there be anything; to choose, we prefer the first, for the second is contemptible merely. In any case, both will grievously misrepresent the Church and the transactions of all Catholics, whether they be individuals or bodies, kings or governments, peers or peasants, and they, who only learn the progress of the world from Protestant publications, will certainly be far from having true or just ideas on any one point connected with the affairs of Catholics at home or abroad. Hence it is, very evidently, the duty and the interest of our co-religionists to support the Catholic press. It is their duty, for they are bound to do all that in them lies to promote the honor of the Church on earth, and this may best be done by making plain to all men the part that she has ever taken in advancing the welfare of mankind, and the effects that her teaching has had on all who have come within its influence. It is their interest, for if the Church and her members be maligned, they also are maligned, and in the Catholic press alone do they possess the means of repudiating the many accusations brought against them. But, in treating of this subject, there is another consideration which arises, and which it may not be thought out of place to mention. In these colonies, most Catholics are either Irishmen or the children of Irish parents, and therefore the credit of the Irish name is, or ought to be, of importance to them. Now, to her honor be it said, Ireland is universally included in the prejudice that obtains against the Catholic cause, and consequently the anti-Catholic press is also the anti-Irish prpss. The journals that openly inveigh against the Church inveigh as openly against the Irish race ; and the journals that more meanly hint objections against the Church, with like meanness contrive at least to ridicule the people of Ireland. The one gets hold of some crime committed in the Emerald Isle, as crimes will be committed all over the world while human nature is what it is, and overlooking guilt of far deeper dye elsewhere, holds this up to execration as if it were the most horrible of all crimes, and one to implicate the whole nation, by a single member of which it had been committed ; the other, perhaps, tells some story in which Irish life is supposed to be delineated, but where vulgarity is introduced to atone for stupidity, and witty sayings are replaced by oaths, so that the Irish character is represented a3 distinguished chiefly by buffoonery, coarseness, and imbecility. The Catholic press alone is the friend of the Irishman. In its columns only does he meet with justice and due appreciation, and here alone does he find his nation fitly estimated, its trials considered, and its interests advocated. There are then abundant reasons for the establishment and support of the Catholic press in these colonies, and it is with deep regret that we see the number of Catholic newspapers diminished. The 'South Australian Tablet' has for the present failed, but we trust it may be for the present only, and that we shall, at no distant date, again welcome its appearance in the arena of journalism, which it was fully qualified to adorn.