THE CATHOLIC CONGRESS

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXII, Issue 42, 20 October 1904, Page 4

THE CATHOLIC CONGRESS

(From our own correspondent.) Melbourne, October 4. Arrangements are hastening towards their completion for holding, with brilliant success, the Second Australasian Catholic Congress, which will be opened in me Cathedral Hall, Melbourne, on Sunday, October 23. The Hall wltiere the opening is to take place, and which will form the chiei centre of the week's proceedings, is a spacious and handsome building situated at a distance of some two or three hundred yards from St. Patrick's Cathedral. It stands in Brunswick street at the rear of the great church, and thence the line of approach to it is direct. The foundation stone ol this building was laid by his 'Circre the Archbishop on April 26, 19*03, and the opening took place tins year on April 10— Low Sunday. '1 he value of the building to the Catholic community of the city is incalculable. The accommodation tilvus provided for their various gatherings is in every respect ample and suitable. The Catholic bodies for who.se needs special provision is made include tne H.A.C.B. Society (male and female branches), the Cath^ olic "Young Moji's Society, the Catholic Young Men's Club,, and the Men's Club. The building., as it Ironts the street, consists of three storeys, the central portion rising to a point and s-ur mounted by a cross. In each of the upper storeys theio are nine windows, and within are seven rooms. r i lie principal dobr opening from the street gives access to a hall of entrance, paved with marble, of considerable size and nicely proportioned and finished. On the left as one onters is a' room for men, and opposite to it is 1 a ladies' room, on whose construction and fittings particular care has been bestowed. The floor is neatly carpeted, and among the furniture are two large mirr,orsv— thought halving clearly been taken for the. more reiijned requirements of the sex. Their convenience and comfort, indeed, have been generally studied. On the side ot the hall opposite to the door of entrance from the street is 1 a large door panelled with glass, which leads; into an opcm court with tiled floor, having on either side a border of earth in which ferns and ferntrees are growing. Crossing t*his court the door of the great hall is reached. The dimensions of the apartmeint are 1 01 ft by 5J ft. On three sides is a gallery, the fourth side being occupied by a platform or stage. Access- to the g,allery is obtained by broad and easy flights of stairs, one on each side within of the door\ of entrance. It may be seen at once t>n,nt in ingress or egress no risk of uncomfortable crowding is run. Full provision is also made throughout the building for in,stant escape in case of alarm of fire. Defloration enters largely into the architecture of the hall. The ceiling is especially deserving of admiration, as are also the front portions of the gallery and the proscenium.. The electric light is used.

Catholic Art and Progress. In visitinig the building on a recent aftert\oon, your coi {respondent found photographers busily engaged/,, under supervision of the Very Rev. Dean Phelan, in taking views of the building, both on line oufcsiHe and within. A particularly interesting photograph, nowever, which may pro'babh r be looked upon as forming the ' chef d'opjuvre ' in its kind, will be that of the hall as it appears on Sunday forenoon, October 23, when a breaklast, following the General Communion of the members of the Catholic Young Men's Societies' Federation of Victoria, to take place in St. Patrick's Cathedral at the 8 a.m. Mass, will be held. This picture in itself should afTord a manifest evidence of the growth and promise of Catholicism in this State. Visible evidence of a somewhat similar nature has, meantime, been taken in hand by the indefatigable layman who shares with the Rev. J. McCarthy the onerous burden of honorary secretary— that is Dr. A. L. Kenny. Dr. Kenny has placed himself in communication with the various architects and other authorities throughout Victoria so as to secure photographs and plans of the churches, charitable institutions, convents, and other ecclesiastical buildings erected in every part of the State, which, hung on the walls .of the hall, will testify strikingly to Catholic progress. An opportunity will also be taken for a display of Catholic art, and notable in this connection will be an exceptionally tokening set of Stations of the Cross exhibited by Architect Tappin. Specimens of stained glass will likewise be shown. Nothing, in a word, has been Overlooked that can in any way -serve to promote the .success of the Congrefcs or, t 0 insure its serving not only as afi evidence of the standing occupied by the Catholic Church in these States but as a point of departure for further advance an\d a stitV higher elevation. The lasting arid fruitful effects produced by the first Congress, that held in Sydney in September, l' 90(), are admitted. It may confidently be hoped that those to folfow tiie Congress now aipproaching will be oven mere fully lira rived. Various Improvements. Comparisons aro odious, as we know, and perhaps especially so must t>hose be that should be made between the works or undertakings of religion. All of us, nevertheless, will unite in the desire that the success gained and the impression produced by the Sydney Congress may be surpassed, e\en a hundred-fold if possible, by the results of the Melbourne Congress. This will by no means belittle what has gone before but will testify, in a manncr^to delight every true Catholic, to tho vigor of the Church and the growth, intellectual a.s well as 'spiritual, that has attended on her course throughout the ages. We shall hope, indeed, that however brilliant may be the success of the second Con. gress, that of the third, wherever and whenever it may be held, will not throw it into the shade, but continue and vastly increase it. An important improvement on the Congress at Sydney has already been announced in the character of the papers to be read in Melbourne, which have been pronounced by the Art'hbi»hop and Dean Phelan—competent judges, t need not say— of a higher standard The volume also in which these papers are to be published will shx>w a decided advance. It will be brought out fti & much improved form. The arms of tihe reigning Pope on the back of the cover will, for example, be a notable addition. Ap prDoi of the. consideration that has been exerciised 1 may add that a special edition of Sands and McDougall's penny diaries, provided with time-tables and a map 'of the heart of the city for the convenience of visitors, will be presented to the members. A detailed list of 'hotels and their tariffs in the city and swburbs has also been printed for distribution. 1 hope, m conclusion, to recognise among those present at the opening of the Congress in the Catmedral Hall ati 10 am. on Sunday, October 23, many visitors from Dunedin. The faithful efforts made by your Rev. Editor 'to promote the interests of the Congress have roceived the special acknowledgments and thanks of the .Committee. ■ I