The Catholic World

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXIII, Issue 35, 31 August 1905, Page 27

The Catholic World

FRANCE— An Encyclical It is stated that the Holy Father is about to issue an Encyclical as a guide to the action of French Catholics under tbe Separation Law. The Separation Bill Though the French Chamber has finished the task it t<tok in hjaati three moA'^hs agio-,, and the law o! separation has; 'been voted, in the opinion of the Comte de Mun it is dead, and only requires decent burial. This result has, he says, been due to the tenacity of those who fought the measure step by step, and insisted upon modifications and concessions. Common Sense The Chamber (writes a Paris correspondent) has hall an unexpected fit of common-sense in dealing with some of the points arising under the Bill for the separation of Church and State. The points 1 in question are the ringing* of church bells, the wearing of ecclesiastical costume in public, processions, and the performance of acts of worship in a public place other than a church or place licensed for the purpose. Amendments were brought forward toy the Radicals strictly prohibiting all the above. The Chamjbjer,. after a long and stormy sitting, defeated them, ana reaffirmed its intention of not interfering with liberty in this respect. A curious decision, however, was arrived at in connection with the exhibition of religious emblems. These which are at present in place will not be removed, but it will be forbidden to put up any new ones. The Effect of Separation Naturally (says the ' Catholic Times ') there is much speculation on the effect which the separation of Church and State in France will cause in religion. We have had the Pope's opinion, and may turn to ' Cisalpine's., 1 Wtrrttng in the ' Guardian,' he considers tfoa.t no national or G-allican Church will arise ; not enough faith in France for that, he thinks. So far from drifting back to Gallicanism, the clergy will become more united in obedience to and dependence on the Holy See. The Pope will start a missionary work for the revival of religion uwder its new conditions, and ' will find means similar to those which were found just a hundred years' ago, when the Jesuits were suppressed to introduce new and keep alive the old Congregations in France.' ' Cisalpine ' may not be a prophet or the son of a prophet, but one need be neither to forecast that the Holy See, having recovered its liberty, will make a vigorous effort to ameliorate the condition of the Chturch in France. Hitherto the State has had a voice in the appointment of Bishops ; now, their appointment falls into the hands of the Po,pte. Everything considered, this is not a bad onvset for the misfortune of a Bill of Separation. ROME— Death of the Rector of the Irish College A Rome correspondent reports the death of the Right Rev. Mgr. Murphy, Rector of the Irish College. The deceased prelate retired to his rooms at about 10 on the night of July 6 ; he was at once, or within a short time, overtaken with heart troujble, and according to all the probabilities, died instantly and with brief pain,, for his corpse was discovered at eight the next morning, and the eyes closed in a position of repose. The lights were still burning in his bedroom. During; the later part of his rectorship Motisti^gnor Murphy had been assisted by the Rev. Father Hagan as Vice-Rector, but the latter has been in Ireland for some time. The other ecclesiastics concerned in the administration are Italian, so the Very Rev. David Fleming, 0.F.M., Secretary of the Biblical Commission, has acted virtually as Rector of the College. By his prompt care, which the students well seconded, all the arrangements were promptly made, and at half-past six on July 7 a large assemblage was at the College, and proceeded thence to the Basilica of Sant' Agata dei Gobi, for the Office of the Deald. Father David officiated, assisteH by students of the College. The Right Rev. William H. Murphy was born at Athy, County Kildare, on May 2, 1846. Giving; early the bright promise which he was later so fully to realise, he was sent to Holy Cross College, Clonliffe, and then to Rome as a student of the Ufb&n College, where he stayed from 1875 till 1880, taking his d^orate in Theology in the latter year. On his return tA^Hanld he was appointed to Holy Cross College, Dublin: Thereafter he became secretary to the Archbishop. Finally he was named Rector of the Church of the Catholic University, and he remained in this position until, in 1901. he was called to be Rector

of the Iridh College in succession to his Grace Or. Kelly,, Archbishop titul|rSof .Acri^a;and Qbadifttor of Sydney. ■ ' '-f V. - GENERAL ' "'^'^ - ' Convert Ministers ' - *".""". 3 ** The band of convert ministers in, England has been increased^ by recent ordinations (says the ' j&ssionary'). The Rev. William Henry Wonercot, who has been a student at the College Beda dn Rome for the diocese of Southwark, was ordained. 'He was an Anglican clergyman at Borey Tracey, in Devonshire. Mr. William Henry Drage, also a Southwark student at the same college was ordained a deacon. He -had been before his reception into the Church a curate at AH Saint's' Churoh, Plymouth. Father Charleson, whose conversion mafle such a stir some 1 years ago in Glasgow, as being among the first of the Presbyterian ministers to come over to Rome, was ordaitned to the priesthood at the Scots College. When he was presented to the Holy Father the other day this fact was related to him, and it pleased the Holy Father very much. Father McPfterson, who has bteen stuidyin® at Dunwoodre, has completed his course and has been ordained. The Jesuit Order The annual list for 1904 of the members of the Society of Jesus who died during that year would present an interesting subject for an insurance actuary, especially fo&eause the Jesuits, being more evenly distributed throughout all the climates and countries of the globe than any other religious Order or Congregation, fairlyi represent the average duration of active but well regelated human lives. At the beginning of 1904 there were 15,404 members in the whole Order. . Of these, 202 died Uetween the beginning and the end of that year, the average at the time of death being 58 years and 9 months. Of the 202 deceased Jesuits, 50 had spent 50 years or more in the Ou'der, and the average age of these jubdlarians at the moment of death was 79 years and 6 months. Of these 50 16 had from 60 to 68 years of religious life to their Credit. One who entered at 16 died at 91, having spent 75 years in religion. Another, who is not among the jubilarians, because he entered the order at the age of 53, lived till he was 90, He would have been condemned as a ' bad risk ' by any ordinary insurance agent at the time of his entrance, and yet he lived on for 37 years. These 202 deaths occurred in different parts of Europe North and South America, Asia, Africa, and Australia, from Montreal to Valparaiso, from Beidut in Syria to Calcutta, from Oracew in Messina, from Alexandria in Egypt to the Zambesi mission in South Africa, from Manila to Fei-Tio in China. Church for Chinese Catholics San Lorenzo, >a small city in the State of Sinaloa has the honor of having the first Catholic church built for and by Ghinese Catholics in the Republic of Mexico and perhaps in America. Of the 5000 inhabitants of that city, aJbout 200 are CtiUiamen, the majority of whom are Catholics. They were converted at home by missionaries, and arrived in Mexico eighteen months ago at the invitation of an agent wiho was recruiting laborers in the Celestial Empire. Their first care was to insure the means of practising their religion, a«d, although there are several churches in the town, they insisted on halving one of their own. They have finally succeeded, anjd the Chinese Catholic churoh was lately dedicated by the Right Rev. F. P. Uranga, BishoD of Sinaloa. * A New Catholic Quarterly It is proposed, according to ' Illustrated Catholic Missions,' to start in January next an international scientific *}ua>r>terly, to contain articles on ethnological, linguistic, and anthropological science, contributed by Catholic missionaries from various parts of tho world in English, German, French, or Latin. ' The Rev. P. W. Schmidt is to be the editor.