Catholic World

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXX, Issue 25, 19 June 1902, Page 27

Catholic World

CANADA —Bishop of Montreal, Father Shelf hant, C.SS.R., who has beon created Bishop of Montreal, had to retire from the Redemptorists to accept the new dignity. He was reluctant to do so, but wheA the order came from Rome ho felt it was his duty to Obey. ENGLAND.— Presentations. King Edward has sent silver writing sets to Mgr. Cagiario, the Pope'a major domo ; Mgr. Bisleti, master of the chamber ; and Mgr. Delia Chiesa,' deputy Secretary of Stato at the Vatican. An Encyclical. A telegram from Rome to the London papers states that the Holy Father intends soon to address an Encyclical to the Catholics of the English-speaking world. Bigots Balked. The Court of King's Bench in London (says the ' Monitor ') has unanimously upheld the decision of tho Magistrate in Great Marlborough street who refused to penalise certain Jesuit priests simply because they wore Jesuits and resided in England. According to the strict! letter of the law as it remains on the statute book, such Jesuits are liable to penalty or expulsion. Some kindly bigots of the Kensit stamp sought to enforce this law, and applied to a. London magistrate, Mr. Kennedy, to set it in motion. Mr. Kennedy refused, and the bigots appealed to King's Bench. The Court unanimously decided that the Magistrato had a discretionary power to say whether or not the law should bo put in operation, and had exercised a valid discretion in refusing tho motion made to him. It is expected that the bigots will try still another method now that tihia resort has failed. Wo trust they may. Tho more light thrown upon such tyrannous and needless statutes, the stronger becomes the case for their abolition. The Priesthood. Tho Bishop of Salford points out with rogrot, in a pastoral letter, that from the noblest Catholic families in tho country to-day, and even from tho next in social rank, there are but' few aspirants for the priesthood. This he regards as an unhealthy and somewhat alarming symptom which is not manifesting itself in the Salford diocese alono. Nor does it augur well ior tho Church's growth in England. lie says that he often asks himself whether tho lack of vocations to the priesthood at the present day from tho upper and middle class Lancashire families is the penalty of worldhness and of the keen race for wealth in the parents or arises from the children themselves, who, brought up in the indulgence and effeminacy, aro so devoid of habits of industry, self-denial and restraint, or even of any serious

purpose in life, that they have not manly courage to endure the bracing discipline of college life, or the heroism to devote themselves to God or the salvation of souls in the priestly state. The Bishop appeals to Catholic families to remember their duty in this matter. ENGLAND.— A Dispensation. The Holy Father desiring, that Catholics throughout the British Empire might be enabled to participates moro easily in the festivities that will mark the King's Coronation has dispensed them from the law of abstinence on Friday, June 27 and from the law of fasting and abstinence on the Saturday following, which is the Vigil of the Feast of SS. Peter and Paul. But it is the desire of the Holy Father that tihey should make up for this dispensation by the recital of certain prayers which are to be prescribed for them An Intolerable Strain. In a letter to the ' Daily Chronicle' on the Education Question, Father Bannin, of the Italian Church, Hfc,t> ton Garden, says :— ' The intolerable strain which has been upon us ever since 1870 is to be seen in the fact that notwithstanding the millions which Nonconformists have received out of the rates, for building and maihtaining Board schools, our Catholic schools are almost on a level them in the standard of education given (vide Blue-book). And if one considers the amount of money expended on education in both seta of schools, the standard of efficiency is higher in ours than in theirs ' FRANCE.— Harasslngthe Jesuit The members of the world-famed Order of St. Ignatius Loyola (says the ' Catholic Times ') must feel that all their stores of logic are useless in the presence of the persecuting spirit of the French Government. While they lived together in community, it regarded them as dangerous to the State owing to their submission to a foreign rule. In order to prevent this evil it broke up them organisation, and only consented to regard them as good citizens. But its hatred is not yet satisfied. It will have the Jesuits neither in community or out. They might not teach collectively ; they may not teach individually. The other day at Marseilles the Public Prosecutor brought an action against four Jesuit Fathers for the heinous crime of having given lessons in private to some youths whoso parents had deaired Jesuit instruction for them. The magistrate held that Jesuits) had as much right as any other citizens to give private lessons, and dismissed the case. However, the Public Prosecutor gave notice of appeal, and no doubt the Government will furbish up somo rusty old legal enactment by which it may secure conviction. The incident disclosed the true inwardness of the ruthless persecution which has fallen on the French religious Orders. Certainly wo want no such State control here.

0* A Mayor's Decree. The Mayor of Choisy-le-Roy, near Paris has solemnly published the following decree : — ' Considering that the presence of ministers of different. religious denominations at funeral processions may lead to a disturbance of public order, interfere with the public tranquillity, and hampei the circulation of passcngei s in 1h» streets, quays, squares, and public places ; Considering that il is the? duty of the municipal authorities to see to the maintenance oi oi dei , Decreed : that the ministei s of the different religious denominations are forbidden to accompany funeral corteges, processionally, outside religious edifices, in the exercise of their functions, otherwise than in a closed carnage.' ROME.— Australian Visitors. The Right Hon. E. Barton, Tremier of the Commonwealth, and Sir John Forrest were in Home last week. The Holy Father accorded an audienco to Mr. Barton and Sir J. Forrest. He declared that he had followed with keen interest Australia's progress. He was delighted at peace being declared, und joined heartily in the festivities at, the Coronation of good King Edward. „ The American Pilgrimage. A numerous American pilgrimage (writes a Home correspondent under date April 25) is expected to arrive in Rome in the course of the week The pilgrims, nearly 1000 in number, sailed from New York on board the White Satr liner Majestic, and after a few hours' stay at Queenstown, proceeded to Naples. They aie led by the Bishop of Brooklyn and 40 priests. The reception by the Holy Father will bq attended by great solemnity, as this is the most numerous pilgrimage which has e\er been to Rome from the United States In a recent converation with Mgr Kennedy, Rector of the North American College, the Holy Father expressed the greatest satisfaction with the wonderful progress made by Catholicity in the United States, adding that* he would be very pleased to receive ihe iilinl homage of tho American Catholics now journeying to Rome. Death of a Cardinal. In the course of throe months no fewer than three of the Caidinals who were raised to the puiple at the Consistory on tho loth of Apiil 1891, have died, the hist bi'ing Ins Eniinenco Cardinal Augustm Riboidi, Archbishop of Ra\enna Only a few days previous to his demise his Eminence was in Rome, at the head of a numerous gioup of pilgi mis, and iccei\ed the I'upe's congratulations for the zeal and energy he had displayed in his new diocese Although G.'S years of age, Caidmal Riholdi was still very active A Week's Record. A Homo correspondent fti\os the following lecoid of the amount of work done m a week by the llolv Father with icg.ud to the leception of pilgrims- — The Tope blessed nioie. than 500 Swiss pilgrims, and about 300 Alsatian pilgrims in the Ducal Hall on April 20th , about 15000 pilgrims from Amiens, Belgium, and the Roman piovmces in the Sixtme Chapel on April 2lh d , and about 10,000 pilgrims from vanoiis parts of Italy in St Fetor's on April 24th. About' 10,000 other -visitors wei c present at the third of these ceremonies. His Holiness replied to addiesses at the lirst and third Gone to China. Ten Franciscan Faihcrs, of the Convent of St Anthony m Rome, left for the China missions on April 2(5, after the oustomaiy fmovvell ceremony, at which all the btetlneii, headed 'by the Very Rev. Father ) l>a\id Fleming, Vicar-General of the Order were present UNITED STATES. The letter (says an exchange) in which tihe Holy Father has replied to

tho Jubilee address presented to him by the American hierarchy will certainly bo read with pride m the United States It is not merely a testimony of singular esteem but a handsome recognition of progress achie\ed The PonLifT's words must be \etv welcome in mow of the criticism to which the Chmch m the United State*-., like the Church elsewhere, is at times subiected. On the whole, tho cuticrm probably docs- trood by acting as a stimulus, but the Catholic authorities m the Stales ha\e tho best possible answer to it — the congratulations of JLeo XI II In his letter he assures them that thenfilial wishes ha\e gi\en him peculiar pleasure on account of the progress of religion, wherein, they easily excel most places , and because of the special lo\e he bears them When he became Supreme I'ontifl the condition of the Church m the United States ga\e him joy, and now, after having occupied the I'upal chair for 24 \ears he can say that that joy has been continually increased by the growth of the Church through the zeal and energy of the American hierarchy. Their prudence had provided institutions suitable alike to tho wants ot the countiy and the needs of the people to whose religious interests they had to attend. And whilst the state of affairs elsewhere caused anxieties the youthful vigor of tho American Chinch afforded a most cheerful outlook. The Holy Father praises tho efforts of the Bishops in proMding ecclesiastical seminaries and tho selection of missionaries to preach to non-Catholics, und, in concluding,, thanks the Catholics of the States for then generosity towards the Holy See His Holiness evidently feels that the Church in the United States is one of the great bulwarks of the Catholic religion The Divorce Evil. in 1886 the Commissioner of Labor was deputed (sa>s the ' Avo Maria ') by the United States Congress to gather data on the subject of divorce; and though his report aroused the public conscience for a time the effect was transient. The Commissioner in his report made duo acknowledgment of the attitude of the Church towards marriage. He saK | __< .Laige and increasing as tho number of di\oices m the United States is 1 , it is an undeniable fact that vveio it not tor the widespread influence ot the Roman Catholic (hutch, tho number would be much gie.itei' The U>\alt\ of Catholics to the teachings und doctnnes of their Chinch and tho fact that one of the caidmal doctnnes of the Chinch is that Chnstian nui i uige is a holy Sa( lament, which, when consummated, can be dissolved lor no cause and in no ni.innoi sa\e by death, has unquestionabU set\ed as a barrier to the \olume ot divoice, winch, except among niembiis of that Church, is, and during- the past 20 v. ears has been, assuming e\ er-mci easing pi ol>oi lions tin oughout the count! > Mission to non = Catholics. The ' Missionai v,' a quartei ly de\oled to the woik of tho missions to non-Catholics, sa.\ s —'The missionaries associated with the Catholic Missionai y Union ha\e gnen within the last 'few months 40 missions, during which bhey receded 78 con\orts and left l.'W under msti uction with tho resident pastoi s- There is nothing, pei chance, which better indicates the. growth of this movement than this simple statement of fact. A few yeais ago we were \ cry content if "we weie able to record thati theio were some interested listeneis Now it) is actual converts that aie leportcd It will lie lomembered that those- converts have boon made in out-of-way places, where tihe Catholic Church was scarcely known, or, if known at all, was not known very favorably , in, places whore bigotry was rampant, ingrained prejudice pievailed, in places where the Church was timid, hiding itself on a back street, where it had no influence tn

public sentiment. Now all this is changed. Catholic doctrine has been preached An aggressive attitude has been assumed and an appeal to truth has boon made Tho attractive power of the Church has been aroused. This change has taken place all over the country as the result of the non-Catholic movement ; and the leports that are made today will be deemed as meagre, 10 ye;>rs from now, sis- we consider tho reports of five years ago, when tho work first stinrieri Verily tho Church is moving on into that larger area of activity and usefulness when .she will become one of the dominant factions in our national life.'