INTERCOLONIAL.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXX, Issue 12, 20 March 1902, Page 7

INTERCOLONIAL.

Miss O'Carroll, who for the past 30 years filled the position of organist at St. Patrick's Church, Singleton, was presented the other day with a testimonial by the townspeople, and -also with a separate one from the parishioners on the occasion of her departure for America. The Rev. P. C. Cregan has been appointed administrator of StMary's Cathedral, Sydney, during the absence of Dean O'Haran. The following clerical changes have been made in the archdiocese : The Rev. Father Condon has been removed from Pambula to Surry Hills ; Rev. Father Kenny goes from Cobargo to Pambula ; Rev. Father McNamara from Pyrmont to Cobargo ; Rev. Father Mahony from Granville to Milton ; Rev. Father Corbett from Milton to St. Mary's Cathedral, Sydney. The religions statistics of the New South Wales census taken last year show that the Anglican Church had 623,131 adherents, being an increase in 10 ye"ars of 120,000; the Catholics 347,847, an increase of 60,000 in the same period ; the Presbyterians 132,617, an increase of 23,000 ; Methodifets 135.31)0, an increase of 25,000 ; Baptists 16.018, an increase of 3000 ; Independents 24,834, an increase of 740 ; other Christian denominations 23,263, an increase of 2300 ; the Salvation Army 9585, a decrease of 730 ; indefinite religions 128. a decrease of 176. The non-Christian religions returned 14,389, a decrease of 2600 ; sceptics 3529, a decrease of 2700 ; no religion 10,231 ; objected to state their religion 13,000. The Protestants number 965,654, or an increase of 174,000. His Eminence Cardinal Moran (writes a Sydney correspondent) is known as the Master Builder of the State, and the Minister for Works declared lately that next to the Government his Eminence is the largest employer of labor in N.S.W. He is a popular employer, too, for he insists on the highest wage being paid. At present he has fifteen schools in the course of erection. A curious event has occurred in one parish. Since the present Education Act came into force over 20 years ago the State had been renting the Catholic school and occupying it as a State school. Some months ago the Cardinal gave them notice to quit, having decided to put religious teachers in charge. Thereupon the State set about building a new school, which has just been completed, but to their amazement they have discovered that they have no pupils. It is a Catholic district, and the children are remaining in the old school, and the brand-new school must be closed. A few Sundays ago Archbishop O'Reily formally opened a new school of the Sisters of St. Joseph, erected in Port Adelaide. The ceremony took place in the presence of a large number of people, and amongst those present were the Minister of Education (Hon. T. H. Brooker), Commissioner of Crown Lands (Hon. L. O'Loughlin). the Mayor and Mayoress of Port Adelaide, Representative P. McM. Glynn, the Hon. A. A. Kirkpatrick, Mr. W. O. Archibald, M.P., and a number of the Catholic clergy and laity. The school, which is a fine spacious building, was blessed by the Archbishop. The Very Rev. Father Hilary. C P , said that there were now in South Australia over 200 Catholic tchools in charge of the Sitters of the various Orders. In the course of an address his Grace the Archbishop of Adelaide remarked that the present was the 35th year of convent work in South Australia. The good work was commenced by the Venerable Mother Mary. The Sisters' work v»as purely one of love, as all they got in return for their labors was food and clothing. There were at the present time 260 women engaged in imparting knowledge to the young of South Australia. Of this number 120 were Sisters of St. Joseph, and the remaining 140 were from other Sisterhoods. This building had involved the outlay of over £3000. The Sisters had obtained £600 towards the cost from the Catholic church, Port Adelaide, so that there was still a debt of nearly £2500. The Sydney correspondent of the Southern Cross, writing on the work which has been accomplished by Cardinal Moran in the Archdiocese of Sydney during the past 18 years, says :— We find in Sydney no fewer than 24 institutions of charity, all (with the exception of St. Vincent's Hosjiial, which has been doubled in size) dating from the time of the Cardinal's arrival. These institutions include the Home for the .Aged and Destitute at Kand wick (Little Sisters of the Poor) ; St. Vincent's Home and Industrial School for Boys at Westmead, Parramatta ; Home and Industrial School for Girls at Manly ; Asylum and School for the Blind, Lewisham ; Asylum for Mental Invalid?, Ryde ; Hos-pital for Women and Children, Lewisham ; St. Joseph's Hospital and Sanatorium, Auburn ; Foundling Hospital, Waitara ; St. Joseph's Orphanage, Lane Cove ; St. Martha's Industrial School, Leichhardt ; Sfc. Anne's Orphanage, Liverpool ; St. Brigid's Orphanage, Ryde ; St. Magdalen's Retreat, Tempe ; Mater Misericordifß Home, Churchill ; Hospice for tbe Dying, Darlinghurst. In addition to these institutions, there are a number of charity societies and guilds, foremost among them tbe Society of St. Vincent de Paul. His Eminence has spent £100.000 on St. Mary's Cathedral, and his labors in the cause of religious education are colossal. First place must be given to the founding, building, and endowment of St. Patrick's Ecclesiastical College at Manly. The Cardinal, without any appeal to the Catholic community, paid for the erection and furnishing of St. Patrick's The cost of the college ' for the training of a native priesthood " to his Eminence could not have been less than £80,000. Besides St. Patrick's, which stands apart as an Ecclesiastical College, there are now in the Sydney Diocese five colleges for boys, including those great institutions, St. Ignatius', Riverview (Jesuit Fathers), and St. Joseph's, Hunters' Hill (Marist Brothers). There are 20 boarding schools or collegee for girls, 20 superior day schools, and 159 primary Bchools. All these schools are taught by religious, and the total attendance is 23,889.