Catholic World

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXX, Issue 27, 3 July 1902, Page 24

Catholic World

ENGLAND. Ihe first solemn function in connection wi'h the new Westminster Cathedial took place on Ascension Mny, when High Mass was sung in tho Chapter Hall. Prebendaries. Cardinal Vaughan has appointed as prebendaries of the new Westminster Cathedral the following members of his household : — The Rev. W. H. Kirnan, prefect of tho sacristy ; the Rev. G. Wallis, master of ceremonies ; the Rev. Charles Brown, rector of the College Cathednal chaplains ; and the Rev. D. Aveling, D.D., rector of the Cathedral choir, Papal Honors. Mr. A, It, Cannon, of Burnham Grange, Bournemouth, has been made a Private Chamberlain to his Holiness. Foreign Missions. At the half-yearly meeting of thet Council of St. Joseph's Foreign Missionary Society, Mill Hill, at winch tho Marquis of Ripon presided, the secretary in his repor.t said. The number of baptisms on our various missions for the year were as follows : Upper Nile, Uganda, 2656 ; Distncts of Madras, 1383; Borneo, 1210 ; Kashmir and Kafiristan, 41 ; Maori Missions, New Zealand, 309 ; total, 4599, showing an increase of 10120 over those of tho number of tho previous year. During the year 14 missionaries were sent out from Mill Hill, viz . 4 to Borneo, 2 to the Maoris, New Zealand, and 8 to the Upper N'lle, Uganda. Although tho last mentioned 8 did not leave tho college until tho Oth of Januany, 1902, they really belonged to last year's bands. All have since arrived safe and well at their distant missions FRANCE.— The Elections. The French Ministerialists (says tho ' Catholic Tunes' ') have not come out of the "elections with anything like a big maionty. After the first hallo ts they boasted of a decisive li iiiniph, recognising- the importance of the principle that nothing succeeds- like success Hut according to 'Mr. Havies Shepherd, who writes to us on the subiect, winch he has examined with special care, the official hgiues given to the press were conked. On the first ballots, he states, the Waldeck-Rosseau party wire in a minority, the exact figures being Ant i-M inisterialists elected, 1212, Ministerialists elected, 203; Atiti-Almistc-ual maionty, 9. Votes given foi Ant 4,196, OGfi , votes given for Ministerialists, 3,7()2,7i:? , Anti-Mmisterial majority, 433, 3.V! On Sunday 171 second ballots were cast, and tho Premier, knowing that the fate of tho Ministry depended on them, made a bold attempt to prevent the French panochial clergy from taking part in tho elections, under the specious pretence of avoiding clerical intimidation. Owing to the number of groups or factions into winch French politicians are divided, estimates differ considerably as to the efTects of Sunday's contests on the Government's strength, the majority assigned to tho Ministry varying from 60 to 90. Whatever the actual number may be, M Waldeck-Rosseau can hardly congratulate himself on being assured of a long lease of power. GERMANY. In noticing the death of Dr. Lieber wo (' Catholic Times ') quoted a poetical motto of his college days in which he declared that he would not accept knighthood from a prince, and

would refuse other honors since he dtsired to be as free as air in his service of God and the people. According to statements made by the German papers within the last few days, Dr. Lieber's resolution was put to the test. He was offered a Provincial Presidency. The Presidencies of thft 14 Prussian provinces are, it need hardly be said, posts of high ne~ sponsibility Thoso who hold them receive & salary of 21,000 marks, and are lodged at the expense of the State. Dr. Lieber was, it appears, «ounded as to whether he would take such a position, and gave a courteous refusal' Then he was sent for by the Emperor, who asked him to accept the presidency of the province of Hesse-Nassau. When he declined the offer, his Majesty proposed that he should accept an order. Dr. Lieber, whilst thanking him, firmly assured him that he was resolved to remain a plain man of the people to the end. ' Well, then, Doctor/ said the Emperor, ' you will lit least accept, a portrn.it of your Sovereign.' This, of course, Dr. Lieber very willingly did, and th« portnait was handed to him with his Majesty* autograph. HOLLAND.— Dutch Pilgrims. The Holy Father, on receiving the Dutch pilgrims on May 8, inspired them all with the lively sense of joy by attesting in a very marked manner his interest in Holland, its ruler, and its people, and his satisfaction with the progress of th« Church In that country. The pilgrimage, which was under the direction of Mgr. van de Wetering, Archbishop of Utrecht, embraced many men who hold representative public positions or offices at the Court, and they were visibly affected by the keen Sympathy which his Holiness showed for th« suffering Queen. She had, he said, evinced a most courteous disposition towards him, especially in the letter which »he sent through the recent embasay, and day by day he earnestly prayed for her recovery. A burst of loud applause greeted this intimation. Then the Pontiff tendered his congratulations to Mgr. van de Wetering, Mgr. Schaepman, and the other pilgrims, on the work that has been done for the Church within recent years in Holland. His Holiness has raised Mgr. Schaepman to the dignity of Proto - Notary Apostolic, in order to give him, as the Bnief says, ' a proof of his goodwill.' For years Mgr. Schaepman has been the leader of the Dutch Catholics in public life, and largely through his prudent guidance they have become a power in the State. INDlA.— Catholic Successes. Of the 20 scholarships awarded at the Primary Examination, in Calcutta, 13 have been secured by tho pupils of the schools of the Jesuit Fathers, the Christian Brothers, and the Lonetto Nuns, and one at St. Anthony's School at Boitackh&na. ROME.— The American Mission. In spite of the determined opposition which the proposed American mission to tho Holy See met with in

influential Protestant circles across th« Atlantic (writes a Rome correspondent), I am in a position to inform you that this important diplomatic went may already be considered as ' fait accompli.' The Governor of the Philippines, Mr. Taft, will be the American Envoy Extraordinary, and he will be accompanied in a semi-official capacity by other well-known personages, including the Right Rev. Mgr. O'Oorman, Bishop of Sioux Falls, who has already arrived in Home. The American misson will be received by the Holy Father before the end of May, and it is regarded as certain in Vatican and diplomatic circles here that this act of homage and courtesy on the United States' part towards the Sovereign Pontiff will be followed in the near future by the establishment of regular and permanent diplomatic relations between the Holy See and the United States Government. Tha principal object of the American mission ia to arrive at a definite understanding with the Vatican concorning the spiritual organisation of the Philippine islands, but many other equally important topics will doubtless come under discussion when Mr. Taft and Cardinal Rampolla meet. That the Holy Father is animated by the greatest friendliness towards the United States, even as regards the unfortunate and delicata question of the Philippines is proved by the fact that in the forthcoming Consistory he will appoint Dr. Meamer, Bishop of Green Bay, to the Archiepiscopal See of Manilla, hitherto tlways occupied by a Spanish prelate. SCOTLAND.- A Memorial. A fund has been inaugurated for th« purpose of placing in the Edinburgh Catholic Cathedral a memorial window to the late Archbishop MacDonald. It is also proposed to place the names of all the deceased bishops and Archbishops of Edinburgh on tha slab over the episcopal vaults. SPAIN.— An English Address. A number of English frienda and well-wishers of Spain acted on the suggestion made by Major Martin Hume and sent a congratulatory address to Don Alfonso XHI. on his accession to tho throne of Spain on May 17. Among the signatories wore Cardinal Vaughan and a number of members of the Houses of Parliament, including the Duke of Norfolk, besides many representative men in journalism, literature, science, and commerce. A Devoted Queen Senor Segasta, in presenting to the Queen for her signature tho last decree she was to sign as Regent of Spain, delivered an eloquent address to her Majesty. Sixteen years and a half had elapsed, during which the Queen was sacrificing her youth, a slava to duty, and a jealous guardian of her children. She had suffered much, finding at last compensation to-day in the happiness of th« King. The Queen was moved to tears. She hoped, she said, that th« statesmen of Spain would help her

son as effectively as they had helped her. He waa still very young and needed the counsel of them all* UNITED STATES. Th» ' Atlanta Age,' a paper conducted in the interests of the colored people, in writing with reference to the will of the late Colonel McKee, says :— -' While the adherents of the Catholic communion are not free from race prejudice, and while the Catholic Church, like the sects of Protestantism, takes on the color of the surrounding local atmosphere, it is, nevertheless, true that race prth judice among Catholics is less pronounced where races differing in physical appearance come into contact, than among Protestants under similar conditions. A good illustration of this ia found here in Washington. The Columbian University, a Protestant institution of learning, positively refuses to admit any person oJ African descent to any of its courses. The Catholic University of America admits any person to its course*, measuring up to its moral and intellectual standards, regardless of religion on race. A number of youngs colored men have taken post gnaduate studies^ at the Catholic University. Of these, one was a Catholic the others being members of Protestant sects, and of these latter one was a Congregational clergyman. Such is Protestantism and Catholicism at the nation's capitol^ Whereupon the ' Boston Pilot ' remarks .—Whatever an individual churchman may do, the spirit of the Chunch is always the same on the race question. As now in the Catholic University, Washington, so has it always been in the halla of the Propaganda, Rome, where side by side sit the white, black, brown and yellow candidates for the priesthood, Mass for Night Workers. For just one year Mass has been celebrated at 2.30 o'clock Sunday mornings in St. Andrew's ChunchJ New York, for the Catholic night workers. Archbishop Corrigan had promised before his illness to celebrate the first anniversary Mass. Nearly 500 attend regularly, and a choir composed of printers renders the musical programmes, The Pau lists. A very important indication of the success achieved by the Paulists is has been authorised by the Directors of the Catholic Missionary Union to collect funda for the erection and endowment of a Mission House or Collego where priests may be prepared to labor as missionaries, especially in the South and in the insular pos-J sessions of the United States. The training will be distinctively adapted to missionary aims. The inmates of the Mission House are not merely to have special courses of study, but they will have opportunities of mixing freely with missionaries who have labored amongst the people* Facilities will also be afforded them for assisting now and then in practical missionary wonk. The project,

which is strongly recommended by the Hierarchy of the United States, is sure to result in many advantages) for the Church. The well-known missionary zeal of the Paulist Fathers may be taken as an assurance that it will be effectively carried out. GENERAL. A Refutation. A non-Catholic clergyman in New York having in the couibe of a seiinon made the statement that 'wherever the shadow of the Papacy had fallen, human liberty had withered,' was taken to task in the columns of the Brooklyn ' Citizen ' by the Rev. W. F. McGinnis, D.D. In the course of a splendid refutation Dr. McGrinnis asked for some evidence of the palsying power of the Church on the reason of such men as Bossuet, Sir Thomas More, Montalembert, Lacordaire, Chateaubriand, Newman, Manning, Brownson, Pasteur, Roentgen, and De Rossi — to name but a few ; and of the padlock on the consciences of St. Philip Nen, St. Francis Xavier, St. Francis de Sales, St Paul of the Cross, St. Vincent de Paul, Dom Bosco, and Father Pamien. He showed the moral superiority of Catholic countries by Protestant testimony in comparing, for example, England, where upwards of 60,000 people die annually from the effects of alcoholism, with Spain, where drunkenness is unknown ; of Sweden, the lowest in the scale of purity among civilised nations, with Ireland, the most chaste ; or, England again, with one criminal in 190 of her population, and Scotland a little worse, with Belgium, having one criminal to every 1700 of her people, and Spain but one in 1000. Dr. McGinnis might have made some still more striking comparisons on facts nearer horne — as between American Catholics and American Protestants in the matter of divorce and other crimes against marriage and family j or socialism and anarchy, and resultant crimes against the state. Decline of Materialism. M. Ferdinand Brunetieive, the French Academician, has been saying in Florence that Materialism is no longer fashionable, that in\etcrate unbelievers aie turning towards Christianity convinced of an en\ironment of mystery that science has been unable to penetrate, and that the Catholic Church has been making so much progress, especially m America, that New York is now the next gneat Catholic city aftei I\u is and Vienna. The St. Pierre Catastrophe. A cablegram received in Paris states that in Fathers of the Order of the- Holy Cho^t, 11 secular priests, 33 Sistcis of St Joseph of (Jluny, and 28 Sisters of St Paul of Chartres, disappeared m the catastrophe at St. Pierre.