The Catholic World

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXV, Issue 8, 21 February 1907, Page 31

The Catholic World

CEYLON— Education without Religion : "Sir Henry Blake, Governor of Ceylon, -was ; present at the distribution of prizes in St. Joseph's College, Colombo, prior to the Christmas holidays, and delivered, an address in which he spoKe enthusiasticallyof the good work done by that institution. With the object of the foundation of the .College, as" explained • by Father* Lytton in the annual report, he was, he said, entirely in sympathy ; jor while, under a 'compulsory system of education in a population composed of various races, and creeds, the difficulties of giving religious education in the Government schools were,, almost insurmountable, the fact remained thatf an edu- % cation from which the religious element- was absent was only half- an education, and it left the student groping without guidance for a safe path amidst temptations. ENGLAND— The Irish Party Thanked In the course of -a letter to Mr. John Redmond, M.P., the Archbishop of Westminster says : ' Now thatr your long struggle for educational equality is momentarily at an end, i»t is due to you that I should again thank you iorr the efforts that you and your colleagues have made to rescue our Catholic schools in England and Wales from the jeopardy in which the 1 proposals of the Government had placed them. Knowing, as I do, the negotiations which have taken place, I am satisfied that you have done your best tojdeal with a very delicate and critical situation.' A Venerable Religious - ' . The London correspondent of the ' Yorkshire Post ' says that a community of nuns Arras, in, France, has arrived at the Benedictine Convent on Corbelly Hill, overlooking the estuary, of the Nrtih, -- in Kirkcudbrightshire. The Prioress, who bravely undertook the long journey from Arras, is a venerable lady of eighty years of age. Progress of the Church In the ' Catholic Directory '. for 1907, figures are supplied 1 -which prove ,that the Church in Great Britain during the past year has steadily advanced. In nearly every diocese the number of churches, chapels, and stations was either maintained undiminished or ..showed a slight increase, "but in Southwark the figures went up from 180 to 232. .The ,-total. number. of churches and chapels at present in England and Wales is 1703, as compared with 1040 -a year , ago. The number of priests has grojwn from 3414 to 3484, the increase being largest in . Southwark, jwhere -the figures have risen from 463 to 494. In Scotland the number of priests has increased from 525- to 540, and the churches, chapels, and stations remain as before, viz., 373 ; ■ but in some of the dioceses -there has 'been <a small decrease. Of the 4024 priests in Great Britain, 2636 belong to the diocesan clergy and 1388 . are Regulars, many of them being French exiles. " The estimated Catholic population of the United Kingdom is from five millions and a half to live • and three-quarters. -Including British America (with a Catholic population of about 2,6^0,000), Africa, Australia, India, and all othjgr possessions, the total Catholic population of the British Em- ' pire is set down as .probably about ten millions and a half. FRANCE— Alleged Infringement of the Law .

Fourteen priests- were charged before Xthe Rheims 'magistrates with infringement 'of the law of 1881. They declared this law • could not be applied- to them, as Mass was not a public meeting, and as no declaration of public meeting was made in theatres or music halls. Treatment of the Bishops and Clergy After the treatment to which the French "Government has subjected the aged Cardinal-Archbishop of Paris, we (' Catholic Times ') cannot foe surprised that they 'have been -heaping indignities on other members of the French 1 Hierarchy. They "have brought the Bishop .of Nancy before a- Correctional, Oourt on the charge of having assaulted on officer of the gendarmery, and he -has been fined fifty francs. What took place on the occasion was described by the Bishop in" a letter to the ' Osservatore Romano ' He had been expelled from his residence and was accompanied by a large body of sympathisers.. Many were cheering lustily *or tfoe popular, prelate, and amongst them a woman of the working class. As the Bishop passed along he saw the officer rush at the woman and ill-treat her. His sympathy naturally went out to the victim of ill—

usage, and. going up to the officer he took hold. of him and begged of him „to desist. , That was the assault fov which a fine liajs been imposed. '.The order has gone forth from the Government that the law is to bo enforced with vigor against ecclesiastics, and policemen who hope, for promotion know how the order may be interpreted to their ■ advantage. ._•••-_ ROME— The Pope and the Cardinals All the Cardinals in -the Eternal City on December 24 (writes- a Rome correspondent) 1 visited - the Pope,' and ■ presented " their Christmas wishes. The Pontiff enV tored ~ into conversation with each Cardinal, so that w.bat .was merely formal in the beginning ended by ber ing;a familiar- meeting. The Pope; replying to the Cardinals' congratulations, said he wished he and -all the Sacred College could be in France to share the . persecution of the clergy. He - was consoled, however, by the solidarity, of the French episcopate. He trusted the Church would ultimately' triumph. Deaths of Two Cardinals' Our Home - exchanges report the deaths of -Cardinal Luigi Tripepi and Cardinal Cavagnis. Both were ma«de Cardinals at the same time— April 1,5, 190il— by. Pope Leo XIII., and both passed away, in Rome on Dc- £ cember 28. BoJLh/too.'had liferary tastes.' --Cardinal Tripepi, whose age was- seventy, was for a time one of the writers in the ' Osservatore Romano ' and also a director of the paper. He brought literary and scientific people to visit Popes Pius IX. and Leo XIII., by whom he was much, esteemed. He was Prefect of the" Sacred Congregation of Relics and Indulgences, and the . author of a " number of works on the Papacy. Cardinal Cavagnis held the office of Secretary' "to the Sacred Congregation of k Extraordinary ;j - : Ecclcsiastdcal Affairs, Was a .man of learning, and published works on theology. His age was sixty-five, The Disbanded Pontifical Army . ' 0 " The " Holy Father on" l)e?ember 27 the survivors of the disbanded Pontifical army, numbering 517,- who, led by- Colonel Bluinensthil," tendered^ their Christmas greetings. His Holiness^ thanked them most warmly. A reception of the survivors was held" subsequently by Cardinal Merry del Val, who bade .. them not to despair of \ictoiy in France, trusting' to the loyalty of French Catholics and Divine mercy. 1 St. Bede's College "' * - , Rarely- (writes a Rome does the Garrick -Theatre 'give an ecclesiastical " sitiudefntf to Rome! This has now- occurred, in the case "of Mr. George Trolloppe,'- who has joined St. Bede's after nine years on the s-tage. He has been v Catholic for two. His age is twenty-six. As a member of . Mr. Tree's company Mr. -Trolloppe took- leading parts. Mr. Williamson, an architect and convert, has also cn r tcred the college. He' is studying for' the diocese of Southwark. Two other new arrivals are Mr. Murphy, a- lay Catholic, and Mr. Roberts,- a lay convert. In all there has been an' increase of live in"' the college so * far during the present scholastic year. The fifth -is Father Barrett, a priest of the diocese of Liverpool. In one of two recent audiences Monsignor- Prior, .the Vice-ORector of the Beda, presented new students of the college to the Holy. Father, who blessed them and accorded their requests for favors. ■ _ "' _^_ Cardinal Gotti

Cardinal Gotti, Prefect of Propaganda, who. recently celebrated the golden jubilee of his priesthood, is a native of Genoa, where he was born on, Mlrch 29, 1834. At the ..age of sixteen he entered the Order, of -vtlie Carmelites, and in 1869 he was called by the General to assist him at the Ecumenical Council." In ISBI he himself became the General of the Order. Leo XIII. sent him as Nuncio "to Brazil, and in November, 1895,~ raised him to the Cardinalate. On the death of Cardinal LedochowsU the Pope, appointed him to" the onerous position of Prefect of Propaganda. At the Conclave Cardinal Gotti received a 'good number of votes for election to the Pontificate. SOUTH AFRICA— Death of a Marist Brother

The 'Catholic Magazine' for .South* Africa' reports the sudden death of Brother Anesius, S.M., at Uitcn.•hage, aged 32. , His death is- a great loss to the Marist community there. He was a German by birth, and joined the Order in Cape Town five years ago. SPAlN—Practical Sympathy

Subscriptions are being collected N for the French clergy «in several Catholic countries on Ihe Continent: The Bishop of Badajos has written to Cardinal Richard offering hospitality fo French priests' who are old, ill, or without resources.

The Uncertainty of Life The death of Monsignor Castellote y' Pinazo, of Jaen, illustrates afresh . the uncertainty of life. .He had been preconised Archbishop of Seville at the last' Consistory, and was preaching his /last sermon in his old cathedral when he "was". .suddenly taken ill. Within aiv' hour he ytas dead of cardiac "congestion. , '

UNITED STATES— A Priestly Line For over half -a- century a priestly line of O^Briens . has labored 4n -St., Patrick's parish, _ Lowell, Mass', >yhere a handsome church,, erected in the place of "the beautiful edifice destroyed by -fire in 1904, has just been dedicated. The church burned in 1904 was erected byRev. John O'Brien;— ■' Father John.' He was assisted inlA,s- work: in Lowell by, his brother, Father Timothy, and when both of these priestly brothers died - and went to their reward,, another Father O'Brien (Rev. a nephew, was appointed pastor, and ■ later permanent rector. When he, in turn, laid down "his work on ear-th, it was taken up by the Rev. O'Brien, who is now permanent rector of St. Patrick's. A Priest Scientist * : , \ Father -Odenbacli, head of St. Ignatius'- College, Cleveland', has 'accidentally discovered a methodvwho're.by he can intercept wireless telegraph messages by means of ' the* copper roof, on the college, some steel pins, and s the lead " from • an ordinary pencil. While lis- ' tening to the sounder connected with the- ceronograph on the top of the college^ by which ligli lining -is -re-^ corded, Father Odenbach, who had substituted the lead* pencil and j>ins\.for the usual expensive coherer in_the instrument, heard the sounder tick off some Morse code. Investigation showed he -had intercepted messages re-~-ceived at the wireless telegraph company's station - there from the Detroit office.