Catholic World

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXX, Issue 9, 27 February 1902, Page 27

Catholic World

CEYLON.— A Record. A Singalese gentleman presented himself at St. Joseph's College the other day (says the 'Ceylon Catholic Messenger') at the head of an imposing line of- boys whom he led into the presence of the Rector. He explained to the Rector that the boys, eight in number, were his sons, and that he wished to place them all in the college. Before thia staggering piece of news could be digested he casually remarked that he had eight daughters also. We have heard of the German Count who offered his six strapping sons to his King when things were going badly with his Majesty in the field ; but surely it must be a record to find a father heading his eight sons to the same college. The present record has nearly been reached in the college on several occasions before. The nearest approach to it is supplied by the case where seven brothers have received their education there. But we should think that it will* be hard to beat .the record of this ornament to the Island of Ceylon, who can march at the head of eight sons to college leaving a. symmetrical complement of eight daughters to await his return home. CHINA.— The Boxer Troubles. There has been published Bmbop Anzer's report for the past year from Southern Shantung. Accordias? to this account Bishop Anzer, on his return from Europe in 1900 everywhere received a friendly reception. He found the residences of the missionaries at Tsining and Yenchaufu intact, but that at Puoly, as well as those in many other places, were half destroyed, while the houses of cm* Christians had been burned or pulled down. The report adds that at the present time tranquility prevails everywhere, although the hatred of foreigners is still deeply rooted, and the feeling of insecurity is general. There is as yet no real belief in the durability of the dynasty or the permanence of peace. EGYPT.— Ancient Manuscripts. in a recent article the MissionaryApostolic of the Coptic Catholics of Egypt states that in the monasteries of that country there are hundreds of ancient manuscripts, some of which date from the earliest Christian ages. When translated, these, ho asserts, will throw a flood of favorable light on the early Church. Ho has already published a Coptic grammar and dictionary, and is now engaged in turning- some of the most important manuscripts into English. Very fortunately, the Catholic Copts, who are able to produce proof that their ancestors were converted by St. Mark, the Evangelist, still speak the language spoken by them in the time of Christ., ENGLAND.— An Old Missal. A relic of the good old days when the monks held sway at Kirkstall

Abbey has just been added to the Leeds Free Library. This is a Cistercian Missal of the year 1516. The volume, which is in practically perfect condition, possesses woodcuts on nearly every page, musical notation in black and red, and the calendar with St. Thomas a Becket the martyr undefaced. Crusade of Rescue. Cardinal Vaughan has issued a letter to the Catholics of England, in which attention is drawn to the Catholic Crusade of Rescue, carried on in London, whereby nearly 900 children are educated and clothed at an annual! cost of £11,21,0. He points out that in the middle ages thousands of the inhabitants of the British Islands joined the Crusades undertaken to rescue the Holy Land from the grasp of the Turk, and the people should to-day join in a crusade for the rescue of poor, helpless little outcasts appealing for help and salvation. Mill Hill College. A solemn departure ceremony from St. Joseph's Foreign Missionary College, Mill Hill, took place on January 6, the Feast of the Epiphany, when eight missionary priests left for Uganda. His Eminence Cardinal Vaughan presided, and his Lordship Bishop Hanlon preached the departure sermon. An Appointment. The Right Rev. Mgr. Fenton, Canon and Vicar-General of Westminster diocese, has been appointed by Cardinal Vaughan to the position of administrator of the new Cathedral. Another appointment has also been made by which Father Wallace takes up the post of Master of Ceremonies. Rumors. Mgr. Merry del Val, a young ecclesiastic of great ability and promise, and a favorite with the Holy Father (says the ' Catholic Herald ') is mentioned as likely to succeed Dr. Brindle as Auxiliary-Bishop of Westminster. The Monsignor's mother is English, and so are his sympathies. Other names mentioned are those of Mgr. Ward, also an able man and a likely nominee, and Mgr. Fenton, already one of Cardinal Vaughan's right-hand men. Neglected Children. In a recent issue of the London ' Free Lance ' Mr. Clement ' Scott made a moving appeal for the devoted Nazareth House Sisters. ' Of your charity,' he urges, ' do not forget the sweet Sisters of Nazareth in your New Year's gifts. They have a nursery at Nazareth House, and to that nursery they take all the neglected children they can find, orphan children, outcast children, beaten children, and save them from the grim horror of the streets and the doorstep. They feed them, they educate them, and they Bend them into the world, unless, indeed, they are crippled, maimed, halt, and blind, with some sense of religion in their little hearts, though there is

no proselytising at Nazareth House. The Protestant is as welcome as the Catholic. That is qne side of the question, but there is another. The Harbor of Refuge at Nazareth House consists of the storm-tossed wrecks of humanity, who otherwise would be cast on the beach to be broken to pieces. : Old men and women, broken down" gentlemen, ladies who have kept their servants and carriages, thank God day and night for the home they have- fou»d,, and the angel faces that smile on them.' Prominent Catholics. This year's Catholic Directory' for England shows that there are 41 Catholic peers, of whom the Earl of Norfolk, the Marquis of Ripon, and Lord Brampton, formerly Sir Henry Hawkins, are perhaps the best known. There are 51 Catholic baronets ; four English and 73 Irish Catholic M.P.'s. In the army there are 14 chaplains, of whom nine are now in South Africa. In all the 19 English dioceses there are duly appointed inspectors of schools, and 11 'Ass ociations , ' co ver ing ~ ~tfie * "Whole of England and . Wales, £aye been formed according €p the Acp of 1897. A London paper"* observe! £hat the Directory proves how manifold are the activities of the Catholic Church in Great Britain "£o-day, and how thorough is the care with which each forward step is considered. The See of Nottingham. The new Bishop of Nottingham (Dr. Brindle) was formally enthroned at St. Baranbas' Cathedral, Nottingham, on January 2, in the presence of nearly the whole of the clergy and the leading Catholic laity, of the diocese. The see was rendered vacant by the resignation of Dr. Bagshawe, who had occupied it for 27 years. Dr. Brindle has recently been acting as AuxiliaryBishop to Cardinal Vaughan in London. Addressing the crowded congregation, Bishop Brindle said he had coma to them to be the messenger of God. They and he Were^entering upon a common life Which had the closest of interests. FRANCE.— A Scene. An extraordinary scene was witnessed at the Municipal Council of Vers recently. The council voted the rejection of a .request- from a religious congregation for authorisation, whereupon the public 'present rose to their feet and abused -'the councillors vigorously". - Many women and girls, shouted in unison— ' We want the Sisters* Long live the Sisters 3 ' The Mayor suspended the meeting, and the gendarmerie had to be sent for. Sensational Music. The Bishop of Langres has published an -energetic protest against the tendency of modern French religious music to become noisy and sensational. After invading the opera, this false art, as the Bishop terms it, has forced its w,ay into, the sanctuary, and much of the music heard in the churches to-day -is far from being church music. >»

Recent Deaths. Among recent deaths of notable French ecclesiastics are those of Father Campana, of the Congregation of the Holy Ghost ; Father Bureau, Vicar-General of Paris, and Father Favard, Procurator-General of the Congregation of Oblates of Mary Immaculate. ROME.— Scots College. At the general ordination of St John's on Ember Saturday by Cardinal Respighi, the following students received Holy Orders, viz. :—: — The Rev. John Gray, of St. Andrews and Edinburgh, who was ordained priest, and the Rev. Alistair Smith-Steinmetz, also of St. Andrews and Edinburgh, who received the diaconate. Messrs. Alexander Walton, of Westminster ; Alexander Mackintosh, of Glasgow ; John Noonan, of Dunkeld, and Alfred SmithSteinmetz of St. Andrews and Edinburgh, received the tonsure. SCOTLAND. —Catholic Statistics The ' Catholic Directory ' for Scotland supplies statistics regarding the Catholic body in the various dioceses of Scotland. In December, 1901, there were in Scotland 476 Catholic priests, 394 of these being seculars, as the ordinary parochial clergy are termed, and 82 regulars, or priests of the various religious Orders, such as Franciscans, Jesuits, Redemptorists, Passionists, and others. Glasgow has much the largest number of priests as compared with any other city or district. There are 220 ' missions,' or parishes, possessing 351 churches, chapels, or stations. The monasteries and convents number 62 in all Scotland. There are 250 Catholic parochial schools, and the estimated Catholic population numbers over 432,000. These numbers show enormous increase on the figures of the previous year. French Nuns. A large mansion, house and grounds, known under the name of Russell House, Trinity, Edinburgh, have been secured for a convent to accommodate French nuns of the strictly enclosed Carmelite Order, who have come from Lourdcs. Some two or three years ago these nuns, anticipating the action of the French Government, sent a small community to Oakley, near Dumfernline, where through the generosity of Mr. Smith-Sligo, of Inzievar, they started a convent in the immediate neighborhood of his house. Since then the •community has been increased to 22 by additional arrivals, and the time has now come for them to seek a permanent house. A Jubilee. The sacerdotal jubilee of the Very Rev. Canon Macluskey, M.R., St. John's, Glasgow, was celebrated with much rejoicing. The Lord Provost of Glasgow took part in the proceedings. A Convert. An Edinburgh. correspondent wr ites :— Mr. Charleson received the Sacrament of Confirmation the other Sunday. Mr. Charleson is residing at his home in Shawlands, and will presently go to Rome to pursue his ecclesiastical studies. UNITED STATES. Persons inclined to question the self-sacrificing devotion of the members of the Catholic Sisterhoods (writes a Trenton correspondent) have had very little to say in regard to this question since a case of the dreaded smalt-pox has broken out here and two . Sisters from St. Francis 1 Hospital were the only ones the authorities could get to nurse the victim. Even before there was a formal request for-' their services the Sisters hastened to volunteer, and it is needless to add that their offer was eagerly accepted. The action of the Sisters in volunteering their services calls forth especial commenda-

tion when it is remembered they performed a similar office a year sgo, and at that time the city did not see iJt to reimburse the hospital any further than to pay for the clothing the fcisters had to have destroyed after leaving the bedside of the patient. An Extensive Diocese. A glimpse into the difficulties still remaining for workers in the Church's cause in our immense country (says an American exchange) is not a bad thing for us in the -bast. What do we realise, for instance, of a diocese, the extent of which is 153,768 square miles ? This is Bishop Scanlon's diocese of Salt Lake City, comprising all of Utah and six counties in the State of Nevada. Its Bishop has ridden 2000 miles on horseback on a single trip, and fifty or sixty miles in a day ; he has walked in one day 20 or 30 miles. For 40 years he has labored among ranchmen, miners, Indians, Mexicans. The story brings back the apostolic times, and yet, after all, it is only one instance, although on a very extended scale of what is going on, here and there, from Alaska to Cape Horn, on our vast continent— a great, valiant work done by many unheralded and truo crusaders of our time for the Cross of Christ. GENERAL. The Missionary Spirit. The spirit which animates the Catholic missiionary is shown by an incident related in the current '. Messenger of the Sacred Heart.' Father Itemi Isore, one of the Jesuit missionaries who have lately given their lives for the faith in China, begged at the close of his theological studies to be sent to the Zambesi mission. His Provincial, Father Grandidier, of the province of Champagne, asked him why he chose that particular place. The answer was : ' Because it seems to offer more chances of martyrdom ' 'If this is your only reason,' replied the Provincial, ' perhaps China will be a better choice, persecution may break out there at any time.' 'If you will allow me then,' answered Father Isore, ' I will ask for China.' ' Very well ; you shall go,' was the decision. The ever-impending persecution soon came, and with it the crown." Dominicans in Assyria. At Mossoul, ancient Babylon, the Dominican Fathers maintain a printing press through which they have already brought out a number of classical works, books on Assyriology, a Kurd Grammar and at present an Arabic-French dictionary. Spanish-American Printing 1 . In regard to the early SpanishAmerican printing, exhaustive research has about proved that the earliest American printed document was a bull of Pope Paul 111., issued in June, 1537, relating to religious instruction of the Indians in Mexico.