A NEWSPAPER OPINION AND OUR COMMENT THEREON.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXVIII, Issue 7, 15 February 1900, Page 3

A NEWSPAPER OPINION AND OUR COMMENT THEREON.

A Protestant gentleman residing in Wanganui has forwarded us the following extract 'rom an ob-cim- r< ligious weekly that appears in Sydney. Iff t'-n r< qn'->»'. t., pnbh-h it a- dto append th< r< tv an editorial comment as to the 1 altitude ol Cuh'iios towards the prcsciu v. ar. A-i c- t- ct fn>ir> --'i>'i ■> >-(>nre> would mi et with no notice at our hands out for the fact that it loprtsenU a point of view that is not unknown in New Z.-al mil. and th <t at the present moment a mischievous attempt is. l,> our know Utlgc, being made in certain quarters to secure for the opinions theitm expn ssed a hold upon the public ear. The extract in question runs a-> follows :—: —

'Protestants differ among themselves as to the wisdom or righteousness of the British engaging in war against the Boers. Some doubt whether England was justified, But it is remarkable that while there is a minority among Prot stants who have oppose! the actions of England, the Itoman Catholics, if we are to judge by their Press utterances, ars practical 'y unanimous in their condemnation of the British. As the A. ('. World points out: '■ No Catholic priest has attended any of the patriotic gatherings or spoken a word of encouragement to the loyal supporters of the Empire. Roman Catholic Members of Parliament are silent as the grave. The Patriotic Fund has swollen rapidly through the generosity of the people, but we can scan the daily lists in yam for the names of well known and wealthy Catholic citizen?. . . . Cardinal Moran maintains a discreet silence. Only once he has spoken, and then it was to say concerning the departing contingent. " If any of them should ask my opinion. I woulel advise them to stay at home. If, however, the public desire to know the real opinions of the Roman prints about the present campaign, it is only necessary to read their own paper, the Catholic J'nws, ' which is ever and always antagonistic to England The truth is, England is Protestant, and that in itself is sufficient to t xcite the hatred ot the priests of Home. The colonial Catholic Press is in harmo. y with the RC. Press elsewhere. The official Vatican organ, the Osserratorr Itomuno, published in Home, speaking of the Transvaal crisis said . "With the defeat of England Piotestantism would be crushed for ever."' It is evident that while a minority of Protestants question the righteousness of the war, the Catholic Church as a whole favours the Boers, simply bi cause the defeat of England wauld be in their estimation a blow to Protestantism.'