A Falsehood.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXX, Issue 30, 24 July 1902, Page 6

A Falsehood.

As an example of the reckless falsehoods which are hurled by the anti-Catholic Press abroad against everything Catholic (says th« London TaMrt) we may cite tha following, whioh appeared in Beveral papers of the kind just before the recent disturbance! in Belgium. The paragraph wa<* quoted froTi the VlaamteTie Gazet, which stated categorically that there are in Belgium 2221 oonventt, viz , 1951 for women and 270 for men. The value of the property held by them was placed at 612,517,000 franoe. That of buildings and land let to third parties at 117,411,000 francs, and that of furnitur-, workß of art, etc., issued in various companies, at 365 418,000. These figures are stated to be official. The Kolnische Volhszeitung has lately put these extravagant assertions to the test, and compiled from Government sources the really official statistics. From this it appears that the real number of convents in all Belgium is 70 for men and 79 for women, total 1 19. Evidently, in order to arrive at su'jh a figure the Vlaamsche Gazet has added together all schoolc. hoppitals, and other institutions in which religious of either Bex work either alone or in conjunction with lay persons. But even so the above total is far from being reached. On the contrary the actual figures are State or private institutions, in whioh religious (oi 1 ") are eng ig^-d in work, andincludiug their own convents, 218 ; ditto, m which reliijiuus (women) are engaged, and including their own convents, 1425 ; total, 1643. The comparatively high number of institutions with which religious women are connected is explained by the very numerous hospitals, creches, day nurseries, orphanages, etc.. in which Sisters are engaged, and sometimes, it should bo noted, only two or three Sisters in each establishment. Moreover, it must not be forgotten that very many religious men and women have in late years had to take refuge in Belgium (as in England, Holland, and America), owing to persecution or vexatory legislation in their own lands— France, Germany, or Italy. Thus, in 1890 there were no less than 5513 non-Belgian inmates in all religious houses of men and women in Belgium. With reference to the colossal sum of 1,095,346,000 francs (say nearly £44,000,000), to which the above estimate of the combined properties of the religiouß Orders amounts, it has been obtained by the simple process of adding in the value of all institutions— hospitals, refuges, Bchools, etc. — belonging to the State or the municipalities ; also all charohes, chapels, and cemeteries, which are under the jurisdiction of the various communes and conseils de fabrique, and with which religious men and women have nothing to do. In such a way it is easy enough to manufacture any statistics that are needed for the occasion.