The Catholic World

New Zealand Tablet, 20 December 1906, Page 31

The Catholic World

ENQLAND—Ttie Education Question .*";- : " In the ' Nineteenth - Century ' for November-*- thejce . is an article by->his, Gr,a,ce Archbishop -Bourne on -'The Peers and " the ~ Education Bill.' He states the -Catholic "case once more and/ demands amendments ;on four . points : 1.-*, The^iKJlitipn qi the- limitations oh . extended facilities ;~43p"The provision- of means for- parents to. give. effective,, utterance to their wishes as toman-" agexnent and the choice . of teachers-r-a vital- matter ; 3. The modification of the monstrous .provision enab- ; ling twenty-one^ per - cent, of -Protestant .children in a. schopl not built for them to deprive ..Catholic s ' children on many days of* the week of the 'definite religious teacning decreed by the parents ; 4. Fair play all .round-^df any one form of religious, teaching is to be -jnovkled^ at the public cost, alternative forms" must be provided in -the- same mariner: 1 - The- Archbishop says It is /known--for certain thatff 59,0- out of- our_ 1056 ' Catholic schools' are in imminent danger of destruction, whilst vaccoTding to a recent and very careful calculation " a /-total'}representing edjghty per cent:, - of" our- •• school's will be - placed in jeopardy. There will^ he declares, be an evil day in store ioi any, political party that 'dares to - disregard our united conscientious cry for justice. - : ■ - FRANCE— Irish Synjpathy The pre-eminent fidelity of the Irish people to \ho Catholic Faith, to which the Cardinal-Archbishop of Paris refers in his reply to the letter of the Irish hierarchy (says -the ' Catholic -Times '0 may well . be.. : _ajv2 source of pride, to them-.'. His Eminence declares jCh'air-v French Catholics could have no "better "-example to- fol- J low . than that' of "4he; Irish " CathoXcs-wlio, amongst?-; all the children of the Church J 'have given the most striking proofs of inviolable constancy.' . O'Connell wished that his heart should rest in Rome.' ' That,' says his Eminence, 'is the symbol ' of your unalterable- attachment to the Holy See. We ask God for strength to imitate your admirable fidelity,' There are good reasons why the Catholics of Ireland, ' and of Great Britain as well', . should watch with anxious interest, the progress of the struggle in France. In the penal -days, when .Catholic priests were under a ban -in these' islands .and "Catholic services were held only in hiding places, -~the\.Cathplics -of France extended to the persecuted a cordiaU\and v practical sympathy. They net only received- refu^e^^ftoispitably, but many of them helped to v provide^ -the ♦mcalris "of education for the Catholic exiles," ".and when our priests came from France to preserve 'the Faith in England and Ireland and Scotland, they always brought "word of the generous kindness, they- had -experienced in France. GERMANY— The Language Question j n Poland The Prussian- Government is keeping up a' struggle with the Polesw in I which the, probabilities are that it will be eventually - worsted*. If people are determined to speak their -ovfn language, it cannot v be -stamped out. When - it -Ms 1 forbidden^' in public places' they 'can ' spea-k it and it (m ( m private, and the most rigorous tyranny ,qaunot prevent- them from doing so. ' 'At, present the strife has assumed .an acute .phase in Prussian Poland ._ ..The.'; State has .decreed that religious educatiori^must be given in German and not in Polish, "but the.^ Polish- children— almost all Catholics— have struck aW the -Archbishop Dr." Stablewski, is not only oii.^thefr side, -^but in a -Pastoral' Letter has informed-, the - parents- that ' they are at liberty, to : * confine the" religious instruction of their children to home teachings .or lessons .received from their pastors. There are forty-five thousand children on strike." It is sought by -.tins Government.' to coerce them,., and '- the Prussian Minister-- ol Education has" intimated that the. 1 existing regulations- "will- be' carried out 'by every' means permitted ..by the .law.' But the -- Poles -_ have witlT them powerful forces -including the Catholic Centre in their efforts 'to preserve ' .their national language. -. SCOTLAND— Presentation to a Priest^ . 3 ' That "bigotry; is slow.jy> r but surely, dying out in".- ' Scotland (writes [.0,- Glasgow. .correspondent) was" provedv vi the spontaneolUs, action- of- all creeds "and classes-itif Renton in honoring- "Rev. . Father 'Jansen, the parish' priest -of Sj;. Martin's" Catholic church. This muchesteemed -priest is a native of Belgium, but has ministered fofc^many years on the Scottish mission. The" rev. gentleman "was recently' displaced' from his -seat In Cardross School Board, which he held for six years" by the decision of the Sheriff on the ground .that he was not a naturalised British subject. Great "indignation was felt in the district when the Sheriff's deci-

sion was made known. As a protest against it, and to marl? their esteem of the popular priest the townspeople - organised a -social - which -. took place in the :-Pub'iic- Hall, ' Rcntoii." " Rey. : Mrf .-Maxwell, M. A/, Presbyterian Jtniinister,' and 'chairman. -.-.of "the School .Board, presided over an attendance '-.of 1000 men. and.- women. _ In" his "address "• the .chairman^ said" "that that meeting 'was sufficient proof of the ; prof ound-rospect- and- esteem in -which Father 'Jansen was held. "-in Railage '-" and -district. The chairman concluded/ a- lerigthy~- : speeeh by calling upon "the- secretary, Mn 'MULYeiHe^-jto^niake - a • presentation "to*: Father'- Jansen, "'Whij^^eoi|sisted.",~ot " a purse containing 80 . sovereigns/ Besides paying' -all " the legal expenses incurred -in "--the .Case. " Fatlier--- Jansen, who' on -'rising -was- received, j- wit li - tremendous -ap-r plau'se, ,said- that lie.; fell he .had the syrii-path/ ~6f - the community at large.-' But '•the^riemonstra-tionsj-of' ".that night and the tiandsome gift they had .fijivcii _ him'werc ample proof that it was . from the heart. '- . - SPAlN— Patroness of the May Queens : { ■ Her Miaiestyj Victoria Eugene -of Spain has consent>ed" to "r-b'ecome " |the_ patroness V of^thi^May^C^ueens,'- in l "compliaTuce /-SvithJ .a" petition- sent , to-'h'ee- l>y-, tlur---May ■^Qu¥ens^o,f 'England and ..-Wales " through" tthe ~ lion/ seers';tary -of /the jVfay "Queen Register, "/Mr.. J.'\ Deedy, Bromley , Gtammon? Kent. ' The . repres"ehtaCtive of "the Catholic May- Queens is Miss Elbie Dora „ French, at Wool, Wareham, _in Dorset. ___.... ._ _J - UNITED STATES— Mass, for Newspaper Men 1 " Monsignor Kalcoirio, " "Apostolic" Delogate .to the United States, recently celebrated Mass 'at 2.30 o'clock on a Sunday morning for newspaper" men and newspaper in the Church of St. Francis . Assisi, Ti? ]Srew:' :r York City, wheie -.300 -nien gathered. There^were "1 men. ..present jrepresenting^ all the morning ..dailies.- In the 1 " course, of some remarks -'-he,,.said~ he would long remember the scene. ' _■ - general" Retiring from the World - The Countess Ghotek, sister-' of the Countess Hohenberg, wife of the heir-presumptive^ - to", the "Austrian Crown, has retired \b t-hej Convent of the Sacred '■* Hcai t at I tedeniberg. - "" Heroic Nuns - ' s In .a -description of the scenes incident to the recent Chilian earthquake., given to a correspondent' by Father Cyprian Deitor, superior to ,the French College in" Valparaiso, the following brief but ""touching reference is made Xo the heroism of the " devoted religious in charge of the home for i-he aged in That city:_ ' When the catastrophe occurred the house of tlfe Sisters of the Poor rang v.'.th cries for -help from over a hundred old men who resided therein. - The good Sisters immediately began to attend to. the latter and brought them out one aftct " another into the' street. They carried some of them en their arms, and placed them" iii safety. When the last of their pensioners .had been saved, one ot the old men was missing, and .the religious immediately went-.-in his. search, but meanwhile the building collapsed, .and eight of the devoted and courageous nuns were boated in . the ruins.' A Distinguished Missionary ' ■ . In a recent 'Issue, we gave an extract from the - London ' Lancet, 1 in which that high-class iournal pakl a well-deserved meed of- praise to the members of the Society of Jesus for their, -work in connection with . scientific; research. "Among the names mentioned was that-. of „F ather^ Massaia-^' who later on became a Car--dmal. - It appears our contemporary was ~ in- -error in saying that Father Massaia was a member of- the Society, of- Jesus, as we understand that ha was a Capuchin, and wasv raised to the Cardinalate because of his. -labors and 'sufferings for over a third of a century 'among ;the Gallas. It may be mentioned that he w v as 'the preceptor of Victor Emmanuel, grandfather of-ft-he present \ King .pf "Italy, who later- on offered the : distinguished missionary a decoration - for his -work -" among the Gallas. This was refused .by- Father Massj: a ;- who" -sayi-hc.'had worked for the honor -and glory of Gcd,;%and <• not-- for any earthly reward. Cardinal Massaia .-passed* away -in. -a. monastery of his" Order in Koine in