Catholic World

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXX, Issue 8, 20 February 1902, Page 24

Catholic World

CHINA. — A Record of progress. In a recent letter to Dean Kinane, of Cashel, thanking him for a charitable donation, Bishop Favier, of Pekin, China stated that despite the Boxer troubles of last year, he gamed 1200 converts in his diocese. During the same period 6000 of his people suffered martyrdom. ENGLAND.— A Memorial. A memorial brass to perpetuate the Memory of the late Rev. William Eyre, S.J., brother of the Archbishop of Glasgow, has been erected in the Church Gallery at Stonyhurst College, of which institution Father Eyre was sometime Rector. A fine portrait of Father Eyre adorns the refectory at Stonyhurst. Diocese of Southwark. Rev. Henry Cafferata, of Chatham, has been appointed Canon Penitentiary of the diocese of Southwark. Eucharistic Conference. On the invitation of his Eminence Cardinal Vaughan, the Eucharistic Congress of 1903 will meet in London. An Altar unveiled. On a Sunday recently, at St. Marie's Church, Southport, a magnificent, richly-carved white stone altar was unveiled, being the gift of Mr. Fyke, J.P., of Merton Bank, a munificent benefactor of the mission. Mr. I'yke some time ago gave £1000 towards the liquidation of the debt on the schools. High Mass was celebrated by the Rev. E. Pyke, rector of Mount Carmel Church, Liverpool, son of the donor of the altar. Westminster Cathedral. According to the latest exchanges the solemn opening of the Westminster Cathedral will not take place, as reported, in June. According to to the ' Tablet,' it is yet quite uncertain whether there will be any formal opening at all this year, and if there should be, it will certainly not bo on the 29th of June. It is more likely, having in view the pre-

sent condition of the work, that the cathedral will, in the first instance, be opened quietly and privately for for the use of the Catholics in the neighborhood. This may probably take place on the Feast of the Visitation, July 2, which is within the Octave of the Feast of SS. Peter and Paul, the seventh anniversary of the laying of the foundation stone. The acoustics of the new cathedral have, it is said, been tested and found satisfactory. Some time ago 20 choir boys climbed up to the side galleries, and to the accompaniment of an organ placed on the floor, santa various hymns, the words of which could be distinctly heard all over the vast building. The boys also assembled at the high altar, and thence their voices carried extremely well. The whole of the interior of the building is to be decorated with marble mosaics and veneer, so that not a single brick will be visible. Lord Brampton's Chapel, which is on the north side, and the nearest to the west front, will be the first of the chapels to be completed. It will be elaborately treated with the finest marble. Attacks on the Jesuits.

All the old calumnies (writes the London correspondent of the 'Advocate ') against the Society of Jesus have been revived and re-circulated during the past few weeks as the result of a scare caused by the report that the French Jesuits who have been compelled by an anti-Christian Government to leave their own country, were coming over to settle in England, A fussy old English M.F., Sir Henry Howarth, a hide-bound Tory, a.nd an unscrupulous bigot, led the attack in the ' Times,' but he was soon routed and defeated all along the line by the Rev. Father Gerard, S.J., who has been a son of St. Ignatius for half a century, and is one of the most erudite and accomplished writers of the day r His exposure of Sir Henry's ignorance and misrepresentations was complete and crushing. Another assault on the Society and its teachings was made by Mr. Christie Murray, the well-known novelist, in the 'Referee,' a Sunday paper with an immense circulation. The 'Referee' was founded and edited by an excellent pj actical Catholic, the late Henry Sampson, in whose memory a beautiful altar has been erected by his daughter in the London Church of St. Patrick. Had Mr. Sampson been still alive no attack on the Jesuits would ever have been permitted to disgrace the columns of his journal. However, it is a case of good coming out of evij, for the overthrow of Mr. Christie Murray by Father Herbert Thurston, S.J., has been even more signal and decisive than Father Gerard's discomfiture of Sir Henry Howarth. The latter had not the grace to acknowledge his deleat, but Mr. Christie Murray did substantially admit that he had been misled, retired from the discussion, and left the controversy he had started to be carried on by all sorts of irresponsible cranks. One interesting result of the ' Referee's ' discussion will probably be a semi-judicial investigation into the pet Protestant charge against the Jesuits, viz., that they teach the doctrine that the end justifies the means. Father Thurston suggested this as a fair test case and the editor of the ' Referee ' agreed. Father Thurston has nominated Lord Llandaff and Mr. Augustine Birrell, K.C. The nominees of the ' Referee ' have not yet been published. Lord Llandaff, formerly Mr. Henry Matthews, M.P. for Dungarvan, is a Catholic, and the most learned lav canonist of the country. Mr. Birrell is not a Catholic. He is a leading Chancery lawyer, and one of the wittiest men alive. GERMANY.— Catholic Congress. A congress of 30,000 Catholics was held on the 29th and 30th November at Uhio, in Wurtemberg, on the banks of the Danube^ Every grade

of society from the noble to the laborer was represented, and all were animated with the same love for religion and demotion to the Catholic Church. It was an extraordinary, important, and never-to-be-forgotton Catholic Congress. The reasons why it was held are to be found in the general condition of the Catholics of Germany, and especially the Catholics of Wurtemberg. The German Catholics at present number over one third of the population. They have been obliged ever since the so-called Reformation to stand on the defensive, and in no part of the world are the Catholics so well organised as in Germany. Although a minority the Centre Party in the Diet of each State is strong, esteemed, often the deciding factor in State business, and as a great diplomatist once described it, 'an immovable tower.' Those separated from the Church have never ceased to combat Catholicism, but up to the present these attacks have increased in bitterness. Not only in Germany, but from the Pyrenees to the Austrian Alps there blows a rough anti-religious, antiCatholic storm. At this assemblage 30,000 Catholic citizens have openly declared that they are and will remain good Catholics ; that they love religious liberty ; that they emphatically repudiate so-called .Liberalism anti-Catholic democracy,, and the hypocritical cry of ' Los von Rom. ' Besides, there is another question specially affecting the Catholics of Wurtemberg, and this is the attempt to withdraw the supervision of the primary schools from the Catholic Church. Some of the teachers in these schools have sought to have the clerical inspectors replaced Dy laymen, hoping thereby to get these offices themselves. For a long time the Church and the State have worked harmoniously on this question, and the Catholics of Wurtemberg are on the alert less a change hostile to religious interests should be introduced. ROME.— A Jubilarian. Right Rev. William Pifferi, 0.5.A., Bishop of Porfieron, and confessor of his Holiness Leo XIH., celebrated the 60th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood at the Vatican on Christmas Day. He was the recipient of many testimonials, congratulatory poems, letters, cablegrams, and telegrams. The Bishop was born on May 24, 1819, the same day as Queen Victoria, and spent many years as a professor of theology and philosophy in Rome and for some time in Perugia, of which the Holy Father was formerly Bishop. He has resided in the Vatican for more than 50 years, and as a professor taught the late Cardinals Martinelli and Sepiacci and Cardinal Ciasca, the great linguist. The diamond jubilarian has charge of the Papal Treasury and is custodian of the relics and authenticates such as are allowed to be taken from Rome. SCOTLAND. Dr. Mac Lean, in his course of Celtic lectures at the University of Glasgow, delivered the other day an interesting discourse on ' The Book of Deer.' Deer is a place in the north of Scotland where formerly a monastery existed, and ' The Book of Deer ' is a copy of the Gospels, probably produced, and certainly kept at the monastery in early Christian times. The text of the Gospels is written in Latin, but the marginal notes are partially in Gaelic, and constitute the oldest written manuscript of the Gaelic tongue. The book was unearthed in 1860, and is in possession of the Cambridge University. UNITED STATES. The cosmopolitan character of the Catholic population in South Texas was strikingly shown during the recent visit of the Right Rev. Bishop Forest to Gonzales, says the v Southern Messenger.' In ministering to the spiritual wants of the

faithful in this comparatively small parish, sermons were preached in four different languages — English, German, Spanish, and Bohemian. The Church is still carrying on her divine mission as on the day of Pentecost, and her children may well exclaim, as did the Jews of various nations assembled on that day in Jerusalem, 'we have heard them speak in our own tongues the wonderful works of God. Catholic University. The annual meeting of the trustees of the Catholic University of America was held recently, Cardinal Gibbons, Chancellor of the University, presiding. Archbishop Keane, of Dubuque, acted as secretary. The chief business was the question of enlarging the endowment fund and curtailing the expenses. The treasurer reported the total funds of the University as £372,387. There were nine Archbishops present — namely, Cardinal Gibbons, Archbishops Keane, Ireland, Elder, Kutzer,, Christie, Kain, Corrigan, Williams, and Ryan. During the past year the University received upwards of £12,000 in bequests and donations. Gifts of Altars. Archbishop Corrigan consecrated, on. December 16, six altars in St. Ignatius Loyola's Church, New York — the largest number, it is said, ever consecrated by any prelate in the United States on one occasion. All these altars were gifts. Colored Sisters. Cardinal Gibbons attended the celebration at a Baltimore convent of the golden jubilee of two colored nuns, Sisters Teresa and Alphonse, of the Oblate Sisters of Providence, Indian Missions. In a pastoral letter Bishop Horstlniann of Cleveland, mentions the fact that Mother Katherine Drexell Superioress of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, gives $70,000 annually to the education of the Indian children. A society was formed in that city recently, the members of which agree to give 25 cents each annually for ' The preservation of the faith among the Indians." The movement will be extended throughout the country. Use of Gaelic. A Redemptorist Father, who sneaks Irish, not long ago heard 500 confessions in Irish in one of the mining districts of Pennsylvania. A New Cathedral. Rev. F. M. Callahan, pastor of the Cathedral, Denver, Colo., announced to his parishioners on the feast of the Immaculate Conception that there was £20,000 on hand to be used for the erection of a new cathedral, which had been dreamed of by Bishop Machebeuf and labored for by Bishop Matz and the rector, Father Callahan. Two years ago the parish was £24,000 in debt, and it did not look as though it would be possible to build a cathedral for many years. The old cathedral property was sold and the proceeds with amounts of from £2000 down contributed by the parishioners, makes the total of £20,000 with which to begin work. It has been planned to make the new structure the most ornate in the west, and it is to cost £10,000. A Golden Jubilee. The Church of St. Francis Xavier, New York, has just been the scene of a solemn and imposing service held to commemorate the golden jubilee of the dedication of the first church built on the site. GENERAL. Good for evil. In Abyssinia, during King Menelekl's absence a few months ago, a vassal in authority forcibly expelled a number of Lazarist students who were making their studies for the

priesthood in the seminary of Alitana. On Menelek's return the students were recalled and the official handed over to the Lazarists to do with as they pleased. Ho was set at liberty. Assisting the Missions. I have been looking through the latest volume of the ' Annals of the Propagation of the Faith ' (writes the London correspondent of the ' Advocate '), and it is surprising to see the small amount of practical interest that has been token by the Catholics of Australia and New Zealand in the work of the conversion of the heathens in the islands of the Pacific, the islands over many of which the Australian Commonwealth claims to exercise jurisdiction. The subscriptions from all the Catholic dioceses of Australia and New Zealand combined amount in the aggregate to 11,000 francs, or only half the sum contributed by Mahometan Turkey. I daresay the poor result is not due to want of will, but rather to the absence of any organised or systematic appeal. The archdiocese of Melbourne figures in the list as a contributor of 805 francs. I am sure that the Catholics of Australia thoroughly appreciate the splendid evangelising work that has been done in the islands of the Pacific during the past 60 years by the devoted Fathers of the Society of Mary, and that they are ready and willing to give it their effective support. That curious and paradoxical country, France, notwithstanding its anti-Christian legislation, and its bitter hostility to the religious Orders, is still the noblest and most generous supporter of Catholic missions to the heathen. Every year it subscribes between four and five millions of francs for the extension of Catholicity abroad, while its Government is continually crippling and hampering the work of the Catholic (Jhurch at home. The United States of America contributes 420,000 francs, Italy 86,000, and Great Britain and Ireland 215,000. The Monks of St. Bernard. The monks of the Grand St. Bernard are proposing to close the famous hospice they have maintained on the Alpine pass since 1825. The forthcoming opening of the JuraSimplon tunnel will make the roadway over the Alps unnecessary, and it is anticipated it will quickly fall into disuse. Missionaries in the East. The annual returns of the Society of Foreign Missions of Paris for 1900 show that in Japan, Korea, China, Indo-China, Siam, Malaysia, Burma, and Southern India, the Society is evangelising upwards of 1,254,000 Catholics. Its staff consists of 35 bishops, 1159 European and 612 native priests, and 2428 native catechists. The Sisters of Charity. The Turkish Government has placed the Sisters of Charity m charge of the city hospital of Jerusalem. It is a mammoth hospital, in which both Moslems and Christians are cared for with equal devotion. The Hospital of St. Louis, close by, is in charge of the Sisters of St. Joseph. Praise was bestowed on both institutions in the recent report of the Turkish inspector. Different Rites. The Catholic Church contains no less than 14 distinct churches or rites, each of which (says the ' Bombay Catholic Examiner ') has its own particular liturgy and customs ; The pure Latin (to which we belong), Latin-Wallach'an, pure Greek, GreekMelchite, Greek-Ruthenian, GreekBulgarian, Greek-Roumanian, pure Syrian, Syro-Maronite, Syro-Chal-daic, Syro-Malabar, Armenian, pure Coptic and Coptic-Ethiopic. These are equally subject to the Apostolic authority of the Roman Pontiff, and

all agree, of course, in the profession of the one Catholic faith. The Greek Catholic Church consists of (1) the Catholics of the pure Greek rite, found chiefly in Italy, Greece, Illyria, Macedonia, and tho islands of the Mediterranean, 150,000 in number ; (2) the Greek Melchite Catholics of Turkey and Egypt, 75,000 lin number, subject to the Greek Patriarch of Antioch, who is also Apostolic Administrator of the Greek Patriarchs of Jerusalem and Alexandra ; (3) the Ruthenian Greeks, 2,000,000 in number, found in Austro-Hungary, Russia, and Eastern Prussia ; (4) the Greek Bulgarian Catholics, 500,000 in number ; and (5) the Greek Roumanian Catholics, numbering 1,000,000. There are, therefore, only about 4,000,000 real Greek Catholics in the world.