St. Joseph's Foreign Missionary Society

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXI, Issue 27, 2 July 1903, Page 11

St. Joseph's Foreign Missionary Society

The half-yearly meeting of the Council of St Joseph s Missionary Society, Mill Hill, London waa held at the Archbishop's House, Westminster on May 8 The Marquis of Ripon presided. The secretary's retoort for 1902 stated that during the year the number of baptisms in different missions had been— Madras districts, 1448 ; Upper Nile, Uganda, 3305 • Borneo Mission, 276 ; Kashmir and Kafiristan, 45 ; Maori Missions New Zealand, 339 ; total, 5413, being an increase of upwards of 800 over the previous year. The other spiritual returns were equally consoling ; for instance in the Upper Nile Mission there are over 10,000 baptised Catholics and 16,200 catechumens under instruction The news from the missions, though telling of hardship and poverty, on the whole continued to be encouraging The Prefect Apostolic of Borneo in his most recent letters wrote as follows : ' I returned here (Kuching) from the Rejang on March 29. where, thank God, 1 left all our Fathers well, and was much pleased with the progress our work is making. Father Hayden has already made a contract for a school and house to be put up in Jesselton for the sum of £160. He has for the present borrowed the money, and would be most grateful for help. He has only been two months in the place and has already 32 Catholics, 29 schoolboys, and 88 catechumens. Large numbers of Chinese immigrants are at present coming into the country. Father Hofgartner

is hard at work among the Chinese at Sibu. He has got 25 of the children of the recent immigrants , into his school. . .Father Stotter is full of hope for his work among the Milanoes, and no doubt he has had wonderful success during the short time he has been among them. In order that the work might be extended he begged very earnestly for some more men to help him. Howover, as you know, our present financial circumstances are such that it is utterly impossible for me to ask for more priests. Bishop Hanlon, writing from Uganda on January 28 last, says : 'We had fair weather for our voyage to feast Africa, and inland from Mombasa to the great lake ; and again across the lake— lßo miles to Munonyo our port, five miles from Mengo, our headquarters. On Nsambya hill priests and people gave us a most hearty weicome, a ringing reception. The day was beautifully line. Immense crowds of our people impeded the way, each individual determined to greet each of us The queen mother (of the king) came out to meet us as we passed her residence. The nuns, all in fine health and spirits, were delighted with their reception. They are installed in the house we had built for them, one of the prettiest houses in the capital, and are now taking their lessons in the Luganda language. It seems we were exceptionally fortunate in our journey on the Uganda railway. Just before our journey Mr. Chamberlain and party were stopped by a breakdown on the line and another smash has prevented traffic during the past three weeks. Sleeping sickness still rages here • it is terrible.'