The Catholic World.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXVII, Issue 49, 7 December 1899, Page 27

The Catholic World.

ENGLAND.— The Funeral of Lady Cliflord.— The funeral of Lady Clifford, whose death was reported iv the N.Z. Tablet some time ago, took place on October 6, at the church at Clifford, near Boston Spa, Yorkshire. It is a beautiful church in the Norman style, the family vault being under the chapel of the Blessed Sacrament. The body was taken there from London, accompanied by Mr. and Mrs Charles Clifford and Mr. and Mrs. Frank Clifford. Sir George and Lady Clifford and Mr. and Mrs. Walter Clifford, being abroad, were unable to attend. On arrival at the station the coffin was met by the <ihoir and at the church by the Rev. Father Dawson, in the absence of the Rev. Father Cullitnore, and was placed before the altar, when a short service was held. Next morning Mass for the Dead was said, the music being 1 beautifully rendered by the choir, assisted by the nuns of Clifford. The body was then removed to the vault and placed next to that of the late Sir Charles Clifford. The beautiful prayers for the dead having been recited, the coffin was sprinkled with holy water by each of the family present. The late Lady Clifford was the third daughter of Mr. John Hercy, of Crutchfield House, Berks. Born on the 20th of April, 1818, she married in January, 1847.

The Chapter of Westminster.— The Rev. Edmund Surmont, D D., has been elected by the Chapter of Westminster to the canonry left vacant by the death of Canon Akers.

Conferring of Minor Orders— ln St. Joseph's Church, Roehampton, the Bishop of South wark recently conferred the Minor Orders on 2."> young Jesuits who had finished their noviceshtp.

Cardinal Vaughan and Old- Age Pensions. -Mr. F: Rogers, one of the deputation who interviewed Cardinal Vaughan on the subject of Old-Acre Pensions, a report of which appeared in a recent issue of the N.Z. Tablet, replying to the comments of the Daily Chronicle on the question, wrote : — ' We have obtained a perfectly frank expression of opinion from the foremost representative of an ancient and influential branch of the Christian Church in these lands upon the problem presented to modern civilisation by the condition of the aged poor. We did not go with the idea that the Cardinal's opinion would necessarily coincide with ours ; we went there to ask him to express it. The problem that the National Committee of Organised Labour have to face is more than the problem of a religion or a class ; it is the problem of a nation, and the only way to solve national problems is for all who think and lead in the nation to bring their minds to bear upon them, without

prejudice to class or Church.' Mr. Rogers proceeds to state that the Cardinal's objections, as well as those of many other people, are similar to those raised agaiost free education. He continues :—: — ' Law and public opinion say, and always have said, that whatever life a man has led, it is cruel and sinful of society to let him in his old age die of starvation, and the National Conmittee agree. But law and public opinion have not got beyond tha relieving officer and the workhouse, and the Cardinal agrees with the National Committee iv recognising that the workhouse does not adequately meet the case, and the National Committee desires to enlarge both law and public opinion, and make them look beyond these antiquated methods of dealing with poverty, to a humane and scientifio system like that which is foreshadowed in the writings of Mr. Charles Booth. 1

FRANCE— The French Clergy.— Mr. Bodley, the wellknown writer, and author of France, wrote to the London Tivten some weeks ago regarding the apparently interminable Dreyfus case. In the course of his remarks Mr. Bodley Haid :—'lt: — 'It is a wonder that the clergy should not be more biasei than they are on the Dreyfus affair, seeing that they have heard only one side in the controversy, when we consider that an acute Englishman like Mr. G. W. Steevens, sent toßennes by a London journal to report" in favour of Dreyfus, came back from the trial doubtful as to the truth of the matter. But, in spite of the influence of the Parisian Press, the French parochial clergy are not violent and are intolerant only in theory. The instances of parish priests who have referred to the Dreyfus case in sermons are most rare, and their attitude to Jews is less offensive than that of English clergymen was 50 years ago to English Dissenters. When they are brought into contact with Jews their theory is not turned into practice. The city near which I live is Bayonne, where the population is very Catholic. A Jewish community has been established there for over a century, and during the whole anti-Semitic campaign no instance has occurred of its persecution by the Catholic majority, who, with their priest, say that the Jews of Bayonne are quiet citizens who came from Portugal before the Revolution, and have nothing to do with the German Jews denounced in the newspapers. The parochial clergy of France have their defects, of which narrowness of vision is inevitably one ; but though I disagree with their opinion on the Dreyfus case and on other graver questions I respect them as the most virtuous and disinterested body of men I have ever known. I should like to speak of the Democratic tendencies of the peasant priesthood, in contradiction to the theories of those who talk in general terms of the unvarying hostility of Catholics to Liberal ideas and institutions, and also on an interesting subject cognate to some of those raised by your correspondents — namely, the antagonism of the French parochial clergy to the religious Orders. But my letter is too long and I wish only to add, in ca<<e it may seem to

incline too much to a defence of the clergy, that it was nearly all written in one of the best known Protestant chateaux in France, amid a society entirely Dreyfusard. The landowner with whom I was staying, who is Protestant by descent, by marriage, and by conviction, is not only on terms of warm and never-interrupted friendship with the cure, but has built and endowed a Catholic school for the little children of the village. This large-minded Protestant has no fear of the pernicious effects of Catholic education which some of your correspondents describe, but recognises the fact that except in certain limited regions the French population will never become Protestant, and that, in spite of passing controversies, it is better for the children to be brought up in the only faith which will ever predominate in France than to be educated without religion.

Returning to the Fold. — About a year ago the Prior •of the Discalced Carmelites at Chevremont retired from his convent on one or other frivolous pretext, and shortly afterwards laid aside the religious habit. The event naturally oaused much ■distress to his brethren, and was the occasion of no small scandal to Catholics generally. Glad of an opportunity to attack the Church, the anti-religious Press indulged in its customary diatribes against monastic institutions, ana loudly applauded the spirit cf independence shown by the unhappy priest, whom they congratulated on his release from the yoke of Rome. For a while the ex -religious received many attentions from the Liberal and Socialist organs, and nnder the patronage of these enemies of the Church he started a lecturing campaign against Catholics and Catholicism. At one time it was said that he had gone over to the Protestants, but it seems there was no truth in the report. A conference to be delivered by him at the ' Populaire,' the Socialist headquarters at Liege, wa3 lately announced The lecture will not, however, be given. The prayers offered for his conversion have been heard. Pere Salic has f-een the errors of his ways, and, deeply regretting his relapse, has pone to the convent of his Order at Paris to seek re-admission. In a letter addressed to the Frets he expresses his ketn sorrow for the scandal he has given, unreservedly retracts whatever he may have paid or written contrary to the teaching of the Church, and earnestly requests prayers that he may persevere in his present resolutions. As usual in cases of this kind, the anti-religious prints that made bo much noise about the misguided priest's apostasy are careful not to breathe a word about his conversion.

GERMANY.— GoIden Jubilee of a Bishop —The town of Fraoenburg was enfete on October 1 to celebrate the jubilee of Dr. Andreas Thiel, Bishop of Ermland, who attained the fiftieth year of his priesthood on that day. The whole town was gaily decorated with flags and banners, and endless were the congratulating visits paid to the venerable prelate after the solemn High Mass in the morning. Among some of the moat distinguished visitors may be mentioned Count von Bismarck, General von Finkenstein, Bishop Rosentreter-Relpin, and numerous deputations from the most prominent Guilds and Catholic Societies in the Empire. His Lordship received a telegram from the Kaiser expressing his cordial congratulations. His Majesty has conferred upon Dr. Thiel the Order of the Red Eagle of the Second Class.

ROME— The Study of Democratic Questions— His Holiness the Pope has established a commission of Cardinals, unde r the presidency of Cardinal Mazzella, to study all democratic questions.

The Pope and the Transvaal- — !t is reported that prior to the outbreak* of hostilities between England and the Transvaal the Pope sent a telegram of 150 words to Queen Victoria, regarding the crisis. It is understood that in this message his Holiness implored her Majesty to do everything that lay in her power to avert war between England and the Transvaal.

Preparations for the Holy Year-— With regard to the preparations for the Holy Year (writes the Rome correspondent of the Catholic Times') it may well be said that every day brings fresh tidings of the feverish activity displayed by all who will be connected with that solemn period of expiation and spiritual rejoicing. Even the Italian authorities, fully realising the advantages which will accrue to the country through the enormous number of pilgrims who are expected to visit the Eternal City, are displaying extraordinary activity in oleaning and polishing up the streets and monuments of Borne, and doing everything in their power to out a good figure before the cosmopolitan crowds expected here. Among the illustrious visitors who will be present at the opening of the Forta Santa I may mention the Empress Frederick and the Crown Princess of Sweden and Norway, and

several Austrian Grand Dukes have also expressed their intention of coming. The golden mallet with which Leo XIII. will open the Porta Santa will be an offering of the Catholic episcopate and clergy throughout the worlJ, and I may also mention that the parish priests of Italy have subscribed in order to present the three Cardinals who will be delegated to open the Holy Gates of the three remaining basilicas with golden mallets. A. special prayer-book, containing the prayers necessary to obtain the indulgences of the jubilee year, will be issued shortly, and the Holy Father has likewise authorised the publication of 2,000,000 postcards commemorative of the jubilee.

SCOTLAND. — Clerical Changes in the Galloway Diocese- — The following changes, consequent on the recall of the Rev. Father Barrett (Galaton) to Ireland, have been made in the Galloway Diocese : — Father Macdonald (now of Maybole) has been succeeded at Annbank by the Rev. John M. A. Cameron, Sacred Heart, Wigtown. The Rev. James B. Jennings, assistant at St. Joseph's, Kilmarnock, has been placed in charge of Wigtown, to which is attached the station at Whithorn.

SOUTH AMERlCA.— Reception of Prelates Returning from Rome- — * ne Buenos Aires correspondent of a German newspaper describes the solemn reception of the Bishops returning from the Latino-American Council in Rome, which took place on the Feast of St. Rose of Lima, the patroness of America. The Argentinian Government sent a cruiser to Montevideo to convey the prelates to Buenos Aires, and from the harbours of that oity to the Cathedral a festive procession was formed, in which the Bishops were escorted amid tumultuous applause, and their path strewn with flowers. On arriving at the Cathedral a solemn Te Deum was sung. On the following Sunday Archbishop Castellano pontificated at Hijjh Mass, the music of which was Gregorian, sung by the Cecilian Society. What an innovation for South America !

THE PHILIPPINES —The Desecration of Churches-— Instructions have, the New York Herald states, been sent to General Otis to clear out the United States troops from every Catholic Church which had been occupied by them. Cardinal Gibbons recently saw Pres dont McKinley and submitted to him reports on the desecration of churches, altars, vestments, and eacred vehsels by American soldiers. The President has directed General Otis to enforce the most stringent rales of discipline in preventing these sacrileges.

UNITED STATES.— The See of Savannah.— it is reported that the three priests whose names were chosen by the Bishops of the Province of Baltimore, at a meeting recently held in that city, to be sent to Rome, from which a successor to the late Right Rev. Dr. Becker, of Savannah, Ga., is likely to be chosen are Rev. Cornelius F. Thomas, rector of the Cathedral, Baltimore ; Very Rev. B. Keilley, Vicar-General of the diocese of Savannah, and Veiy Rev. Dr. P. S. McHale, CM., president Niagara University, formerly pastor of the Immaculate Conception Church, Baltimore.

The Position Of the ChuTCh. — Since Archbishop Ireland's visit to Europe (says the New York correspondent of the New Era) the attention of the Catholic world has been called to Catholicism in America, and the growth and development of the True Faith in the New World is a subject well worth considering. It ia safe to state that over a fourth of the population of New York City is composed of Catholics, Catholics who are ever striving to promote their religion, and who have helped to erect the countless churches, schools, and charitable institutions which stand to-day as testimonies of the influence the Church of Rome has wielded over the people of the United States. No longer is the Catholic religion attacked from Protestant pulpits, as was current five years since. The feeling of antagonism between creeds has almost entirely disappeared, and we read in a Chicago paper that at a recent meeting of the Associated Charities which took place in that city, there were present ministers of every denomination, iucluding several Catholic priests and two rabbis. When such a state of liberty exists, the result cannot fail to be beneficial to the masses, and must call forth the admiration of the whole civilised world.