Catholic World

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXX, Issue 29, 17 July 1902, Page 24

Catholic World

BELGIUM.— The Elections. The results of the elections in Belgium leave, no doubt that the feeling, of the Country towards the Catholic Government is, as described in an article from a special correspondentl which we publish elsewhere, one ofl confidence. The elections were for* lialf the. old. seals in the Chamber of liepresentatives and for some new seats in tho Chamber of Senate. *roin tho analysis of the returns it appears that 77 seats were vacated by retiring deputies, the Catholics have secured 48, the Liberals 19, and the Socialists 10. Fourteen new seats are represented by eight Catholics, two Liberals, three Socialists, and one Christian Democrat. Thirtynine Catholics, 14 Liberals, 21 Socialists, and one Christian Democrat have not had to seek election on this occasion. The now Chamber will accordingly comprise 95 Catholics, 35 Liberals, 34 Socialists, and two Christian Democrats, giving the Catholics a clear gain of four seats. In the face of the extraordinary expedients adopted by their opponents, who descended to every form of misrepresentation, their victory is- significant and opportune-. During the recent Socialist reign of terror the loading spirits tried to justify violonce by asserting that the (fov eminent did not really represent tho people We (' Catholic Times,') now see what those statements were worth. The electors have given their ■verdict, and it is an unmistakable condemnation of the Socialistic outbreak. CHILE.— The Church. Two large cathedrals are being planned for erection m Chile. Jt 13 claimed for the Church m that country that nowhere is Catholic education more advancer!, and nowhere are there la y men more practical and progressive CUBA. Solemn TTigh Mass was celebrated m all tho chuiches of Cuba on tho inauguration of the new Republic, and aftei wards tho 'To Deuni ' was •sung m tho Cathedral ENGLAND.— The Education Bill. The Right R<>\ Dr ITedley, Bishop of Newport, on ,1 Sunday recently blessed and laid in the piesence of a laign congreßat ion an inscubed cornei -stone on the laige extensions undei taken at St. Pctei's schools, Cardiff, in compliance with tho. Education Board's requirements, lie spoke at some length on tho Education Bill and said it might lie held as tho best charter of fiei <>c and universal education that the people had had since school legislation began Alderman Carey quoted statistics compiled by the Town Clerk of Cardiff, showing that whilst the scholars in the Cardin Boaid Schools had (hump, the past >ear been receiving 72s 8d of public minev, the scholars 111 tho voluntary schools of Cardiff had received only 21s 2cl per head Westminster Cathedral. His Eminence Cardinal Vaughan haM appointed Mr George- Lambert) curator «>f all the works of art of thu new Westminster. Cathedral and of Archbishop's House. Tho collection of paintings is a very interesting one, and decidedly \ei.y valuable. It includes some very choice paintings on wood of the fifteenth century, and a beautiful ' Assumption,' attributed to Munllo, which has boon allied at £:50,000 Challenge not accepted. Mr John Kensit was challenged tho other day at Circncester by Mr. Giw, of Str.atton, to give the name of 0110 living Catholic priest who had received payment for hearing confession or one living layman who had paid money for that purpose. Mr. Grey undortook, if such a case could

be found, to pay £10 to the Cottage Hospital. Of course Mr. Kensit did not accept the challenge. FRANCE. Notre Damo (writes a Paris corres^ pondent) was the scene on May 12 of the celebration of the centenary of La cor da ire, tho great Dominican orator. The French Academy was represented by all its officers, and tho Paris Bar, of which Lacondaire was a member before joining th« Order of St Dominic, sent a deputation of ita Batonnier and Ancien Batonmer. All the Dominicans of the Rue do la Chaise and of the Faubourg St Honore were present. Mass was celebrated by Mgr. Altmeyer, the Dominican Archbishop of Bagdad, and tho panegyric of Lacordaire was delivered by Mgr. Touchet, Bishop of Orleans, who is one of the most eloquent members of tho French Episcopate. In the course of his splendid oration, which was once interrupted by tho spontaneous applause of the audience, the orator showed Lacordaire as a great citizen, an inspired apologist, and an heroic monk. During 20 years; his eloquence drew crowds round the pulpit of Notre Dame. No one, more than he, has iliovod hearts and awakened and quickened consciences In the nineteenth century ho occupies the place of a Father of the Church. The French Academy, faithful to its trarditions of liberalism and impartial-^ ity, had elected Lacordaire to the chair left vacant by De Tocqueville. He was received on the 24th June, 1861, and was introduced by those two "very famous orators, Montalembert and Berryer. One of the most interesting features of this interest-* ing. sitting was that it fell to GtiizotJ to welcome Lacordaire into the Academy — Protestantism, welcoming Catholicity. Guizot's reply to Lacordaire's speech has remained famous in the aimais of the French Academy It began aa follows : — ' What would have happened, Sir, if you and I had] met 600 years ago, and if it had been our lot to have any influence upon each other's destiny ? If, 600 years ag,o, my co-religionists had come across you they would have assailed you in their wrath as a persecutor, and yours would have armed themselves and risen up against the. heretics. We are here, Sir, you and I, the living proof and the witnessesof the progress which the world has made m understanding and respecting the rights of justice, of conscience, of right, and of divine laws, so long misunderstood when Cod and Faith were m question.' GERMANY.— Death of a Prelate. The Archdiocese of Cologno hasl been sorely tried of lato. Only three! years have passed sinco it lost Cardinal KremiMitz, its Archbishop. A few months later the Assistant Bishop, l)r Sclunitz, died at a comparatncly ear.ly age. And now Archbishop'Simar, the successor of Cardinal Kremenlz, has passed away af-< ter a brief illness Tho Archbishop was 67 years of age, having been born at Eupen, in Rhenish Prussia, in 1833. He spent seven years at the 1

University of Bonn, attending the lectures of, amongst others, such eminent men as Ritschl and Heimsoeth. Dr. Simar completed his course of studies at Munich. For 30 years he taught theology as a professor at Bonn. During that period he published works on Dogmatic and Moral Theology, When the Old Catholic nio-vpment began to disturb academic centres, his firmness in adhering to the orthodox Faith was rigid and decisive, but he highly valued the friendship of some who fell away, and the separation which followed was a severe shock to him. Iv 1891 he was: appointed Bishop of Paderborn, and when the See of Cologne became vacant through the death of Cardinal Krementz, Dr. Simar, as a learned and energetic ecclesiastic and a patriotic German, was, the choice of tha Chapter, the Emperor, and the Holy Father, all of whom have now given expression to their grief at his death. His place as the head of one of the most important dioceses on the Continent will not be easily filled. ITALY. — Feeding the poor. At the close of the Catholic Congress of Bari, Italy, not long ago,, a banquet was given to 300 poor persons, who were waited upon by the Archbishop of Bari and ten bishops. ROME.— Ordinations. At a recent ordination ceremony ati the Church of the Apollinare, Rome, four students of the Scots College received the Sub-Diaconate, viz. :—: — The Rev. John Nicholas Murphy, of the Diocese of Galloway ; the Rev. Thomas Gill'on, of the Archdiocese; of St. Andrews and Edinburgh ; the llev. Patrick Loy and the Rev. Patrick Keenan, both of the Diocese of Aberdeen. SPAIN.— A Fair Estimate. Wo hear (says the New York 'Freeman's Journal ') of the Spaniands in Spain, being a ' decaying race,' but the ' New York Sun ' special reporter of King Alfonso's coronation celebration saw no evidence in that! direction in the multitudes thatl thronged the Spanish capital on the occasion, the appearance of which he thus describes : — ' To any one spending a week in the Spanish capital the talk of Castilian degeneracy ia the merest mockery. Tho sturdy vigor of one of the oldest European peoples is evidenced not only by the splendid assembly of the nation's aristocracy, but by tho character of tho peasantry> who number fully ."jO.OOO, and who throng the streets of the capital. They are a strong, clear-eyed type, of magnificent physique, and are immensely superior to the aperage inhabitant of the English manufacturing town ' This is something different from the current, Anglo-Saxon literature notion of tho subject. UNITED STATES. Certain daily papers (says the Boston ' Pilot ') comment on the heroism of a Catholic priest, the Rev. R. Burke, of St. Columba's Church, Buffalo, N.Y., stricken down by smallpox while ministering to a dy-

ing victim of the dread disease ; and of the B«v. Francis May, a Capuchin monk, of Yonkers, N.Y., for receiving into the Church and administering Extreme Unction to a poor woman, dying in the smallpox ward of the City Hospital in that city, lv seems strange to Catholics that such matter-of-course devotion to duty should attract so much attention. The marvel to us would be if a priest failed to brave the terrors of smallpox or any other contagious disease in the spiritual service of his people. The pniest at the bed of pestilence, however, seems to h*vo been the cause of the conversion of the poor Protestant woman in the Yonkers Hospital, and his prompt response to her call and subsequent administration of the Sacraments were noted with the deepest interest by the Rev. Epiphanius Wilson, a Protestant clergyman, suffering fronx the smallpox in the same institution. The Hierarchy. Archbishop Corrigan was not quit* 63 years old when he died. The 'Catholic Citizen' says we are to reflect that most of the Archbiahops are now upwards of 60 years of age. Archbishop Williams of Boston and Archbishop Elder of Cincinnati are over 80. Archbishop Feenan, of Chicago and Archbishop Ryan of Philadelphia are over 70. Cardinal Gibbons is 68, Archbishop Ryan is 64, Archbishop Keane 68, Archbishop Riordan and Archbishop Kain 61, Archbishops Chapelle, Kateer, and Bourg&rde are within a few years of 60. Archbishop Christie of Portland is the youngest Archbishop. Archdiocese of New York. At a meeting of the irremovable lectors to select a successor to the late Archbishop Corrigan the result of the voting was as follows :— Bishop Farley dignissimus. Bishop McDonnell, of Brooklyn, djgnior, and Very Rev. Father Mooney, y.G., dignus. Greek Catholics. Permission has been given for the formation of a palish of Greek Catholics in Allegheny Pa. An appointment has been given a Greek Catholic pniest for that purpose. Bohemian Catholics. It ia stated that there are in the city af Chicago more Bohemian Catholics than in any City in the world excepting Prague in Bohemia itself, and more Catholic Poles than in any city except Warsaw in l'oland. Agricultural School for Boys. In California recently a tract of 1000 acres was acquired by the ' Youth's Directory ' for the purpose of establishing under Catholic auspices an agricultural school for boys. Tho idea is taken from France, where* there 49 agricultural institutes under control and direction of the Church. These schools have popularised farming as a means of livelihood', and have very much improved the farmi-

ng methods of the French people Consequently France has 10,000 000 of peasant proprietors, while England and Ireland togethu hu\e less than 900,000. The California project has the cordial nppioval of Archbishop Kioidan ' GENERAL. Death of a Patriarch. The Greek Weldntch (m union with the Holy Sec) ha\e mst lost thenpatriarch, Algr iVfer <; ( »iau,irv n learned prelate who was born' in }atl' allCi Wa& oI(JCU; < J ll J atnarch in xoiio.