The Fatherland

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXIII, Issue 40, 5 October 1905, Page 1

The Fatherland

In 1890 there were 17,071,929 Catholics within the European boundaries of the German Empire. Tms year the numfoeD is 20,180,206. In 1890 they were 35.8 per cent, of the population. They are now 37 per cent. They are ministered to by five Archbishops (Dne of them a Cardinal), twenty Bishops, one Vicar- Apostolic, and 21,458 priests, secular and regular. This gives an a\oraiffe. of one iccclesLastie to 98C Catholics In New Zealand there is one priest to every GOO Catholics , in the limited States one to about e\ery 1000 According to the annual ichgious statistics published by the New York ' Independent ' (a non-Catholic journal) in January, 11)01, l there are only 90 Baptists on an average to one of their churches ; 110 Methodists to each of their congregations , whilst the a-\ erage number of Catnohcs to one church is not less than 767.' ' From the elaborate statistics of the diverge Christian denominations,' says the ' Independent,' ' we gather the result that the adjective " priest-ridden " att acnes not to Catholics, ibut in its fullest sense to Protestant denominatians ' Bcntbam had a splendid contempt for what he called ' question-begging epithets.' And yet they aro to this hour strewn over the field of contro\ersy as thick as shingle on the beach at Timaru. Statistics are happily riddling us of some of them. And ' priest-ridden ' is one of the natgging terms of theological 'abftise that is no longer safe to flirrff at Catholics, either in Jrelaml or elsewhere. It 'is about hdgh time that the 'term should be relegated to I(he dust-bin of obsolete terms of offcn.se.