The Catholic World

New Zealand Tablet, Volume 07, Issue 45, 7 November 1907, Page 31

The Catholic World

AFRICA— A Martyr News has' been received in Rome of the martyrdom of F-ather Pollet, a ' Catholic .. missionary in the Congo. From Hanka he was making a journey when the natives, who were excited • against the whites, fell upon him and stabbed him to death. CANADA— GaeIic Mission Letters from Rev. Fa.ther Campbell, S.J. (writes a Glasgow correspondent) —continue to delight the Catholics here. Of the 80,000 Catholics in the diocese of Antigonish, 45,000 are Highland exiles or their descendants, 20,000 are French, and 15,000 Irish. There are sixty Gaelic-speaking priests, of whom the doyen is Bishop Cameron, who bears his four score years wonderfully, and who has frequently visited the Braes of Lochaber, where his people dwelt. A wonderful old man he is, who has himself seen Popes Gregory XVI., Pius IX., Leo XIII., and Pius X. Besides the sixty priests, there are about fifty Gaelic^ speaking nuns in the diocese, who- are chiefly engaged in the schools. Father Campbell concludes one of his letters to the' Fathers of St. Joseph's with the request that his kindest regards be given 'to everybody in Glasgow.' It is interesting, by the way, to find that papers of all kinds throughout Nova Scotia are full of Father Campbell's mission, and the Protestant as well as the Catholic Press teem with expressions of amazement at the remarkable effect of his visit. ENGLAND— For the Mission Field Fifteen priests of St. Joseph's Foreign Missionary Society were to leave Mill Hill for various fields of duty on September 24. Mission to Hop-pickers The Bishop of Soutlnvark visited on Sunday, September 15, several of the largest hop-growing parishes of Mid-Kent. At Yalding, near Maidstone, where nearly 20,000 pickers- were employed, the Bishop said Mass at a rude altar composed of a few plain boards erected in a small marquee. The service was attended by nearly a thousand hoppers, among whom were many children. The King and the Abbot The King, relaxing for once his rule of taking all meals in his own apartments whilst undergoing the cure at Marienbad, dined one evening as guest of one of the greatest and most interesting princes of the Catholic Church, in the person of the Abbot Gilbert von Helmer. The King's host lives in the monastery of Tapel, seven miles from Marienbad, and in addition to his proprietary rights over the beautiful park lands around the 200-year-old monastery is owner of every inch of land in and around Marienbad. Thus he meets the King not only as one of the heads of a great Order, but as a reigning prince might welcome a friendly sovereign. The Abbot derives his personal revenue from the ground rents of Marienbad and from the springs. The Abbot is a tall, dignified figure, with powerful, clean-shaven face and expressive eyes. 'He spoke to an interviewer of his visit to Windsor Castle some months ago, when he was received by the King and Queen, and presented with the Victorian Order. Bishop Riddell's Death The sudden death of . the Bishop of Northampton has deprived the English Hierarchy of a member who united good judgment and tact with a large administrative capacity. His form reflected the manliness of his character.-. When twentyseven years ago he was consecrated Bishop of the See by the late Bishop Cornthwaite, of Leeds, a Catholic writer stated' in the Press that Northampton was the largest an<f the poorest Catholic diocese in England. The courageous prelate never whined or repined amidst difficulties. His missionary experience at Hull and Scarborough taught him that hard work is the secret of success in the sphere of religion as well as in the world, and as a bishop he was unsparing of himself. Thus it was that the little flgck ruled by his predecessors, Dr Wareing and Dr Amherst, more than doubled its numbers ' during his episcopate, increasing from six to fourteen thousand. Though scattered over more than half a dozen c6unties/ they were cared for by the bishop with as much' solicitude as if. his diocese were confined to a small area, and means were secured for the multi-

plication of churches, schools, arid religious ' institutions. In the improved condition of the diocese Dr Riddell has left a fine memorial of his zeal. - ' FRANCE— Atheistic Campaign M. Paul Meunier, a French deputy, 'was asked recently to give an address to the children of a, canton in the Aube who had ■just received their certificate of studies. His speech may be -. thus summarised : ' Boys and girls, amuse yourselves ; procure yourselves pleasure by every possible means. Do not listen to the teaching of the men in black, who are only kill-joys.' A mayor, under similar circumstances, told his small hearers that if they would only disregard what the clergy taught them, they would find life a valley of roses. Life, he said, had no sorrows except those, caused by the teaching of religion. In the same canton, a., rural postman was pressed by the mayor to send his children to the lay school, and asked why he did not. ' I have a serious reason, 1 replied the poor man,, in a voice firm But troubled, for he already saw himself on ihe pavement with his six small children. 'A serious reason, indeed, and what can that be?' inquired the mayor. 'It is that I do not" wish 'ivy children to be brought up as brutes ! And now, sir, dismiss 'mo ~-il_v_ ou wish.' ' - • - Expelled Nuns Telegraphing from Brest, a correspondent of "the ' Daily Chronicle * says :— The Ursuline nuns, whose convents at Quimperle arid Carhaix have been closed by order of the Government, are about to establish themselves at Beaconfield, near Plymouth. There they will carry on a girls' school, with the assistance of two English professors. - Death of a Mother-General Rev. Mother La Croix Binet, Mother-General of the Sisters of Charity of St. Paul, died on September 4 at Chartres in 'her seventy-sixth year. She had been Mother-General for many years. Owing to the persecution and the expulsion of many •hundreds of the members of her Congregation her health broke down some time ago. SCOTLAND — Jubilee Celebration at Rutherglen About the middle of September, at the residence of the Very Rev. Canon Toner, the Presbytery, Rutherglen, nine clergy of the Scottish missions met to celebrate together the silver jubilee of their sacerdotal ordination. They were : The Right Rev. Mgr. Fraser, Rector of the Scots College, Rome; Very Rev. Canon Toner, Rutherglen; Very Rev. Canon Chisholm, Argyll ; Very Rev. Canon Collins, Ayr ; Rev. George 'W. Ritchie, Shieldmuir ; Rev. D. A. * M'Pherson, Chapelhall , (late of Motherwell); Rev. William Shaw, Linwood ; Rev. David Macdonald, Kirkwall, Orkney; and Rev. Duncan Mac Queen, Inverness. High Mass was celebrated- at St. Columkille's Church in the morning, His Grace the Archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh assisting. On the following morning, by special permission of the Holy Father, a Pontifical Requiem Mass was offered for the four deceased members who, with the jubilarians, had been classfellows at Blairs College, where the present Archbishop was one of their professors. The following telegram was despatched to Cardinal Merry del Val, at Castel Gandolf o : ' Nine Scotch priests assembled for Mass of Thanksgiving for silver jubilee with Archbishop Smith, once their professor. Thank the Holy Father for his special blessing, and with profound devotion pray God to preserve him long.' SPAIN— The King at Lourdes The following details of the visit made to Lourdes lately by the young rulers of Spain are given in the 'Journal de la Grotte ' :— At the foot of the choir of the basilica the King knelt on the Epistle side, while the Queen knelt in the benches on the Gospel side. His Catholic Majesty then prayed a considerable time, with his arms outstretched in the-' form of a . .cross, as is the custom for pious pilgrims at" the Grotto. The Bishop of Tarbes asked permission of the King to offer to H M Queen Victoria two gold medals of Our Lady of Lourdes one for Her Gracious Majesty, the other for their infant, the Prince Of the Asturias. The bishop had had the honor two years ago of presenting one to the King. ■ At this offer the countenance of the young Sovereign became radiant, and after amiably acqmescing m the wish of the prelate, His Majesty added • ' I always wear one myself '; and it is a f act^that the pious monarch is never without his medal of Our Lady of Lourdes. The King, who had visited the sanctuaries before, showed the greatest pleasure in himself pointing out to the young Queen the different features of the shrine.

UNITED STATES— The Poet-Priest of the South Quite a considerable sura has been subscribed for the erection of a public monument in Mobile, Alabama, to Father Ryan, the poet-priest of the South. ' GENERAL The Sultan and Religious Liberty Mgr. Rahmani, Patriarch of the Syrian Catholics, is paying a visit to Paris, and has been interviewed by a representative of lhe_' Eclair.' He states that the Turkish Government grants entire freedom of worship to the Catholics. In the different towns lists of" the members of each Christian denominations are published every year and presented to the Turkish authorities, who take measures to verify them. When they are found to be exact, permission is given for the building of churches or the establishmenTPof schools. Catholic processions ' are allowed in some places, and the clergy take part in funeral processions, the cross being borne in front. A Prelate from China Among the prelates who attended the recent great Eucharistic Congress at ivietz was the Bishop of tshanTung, China. His Lordship was a conspicuous figure at that notable assembly, inasmuch as he was clad in Chinese costume. Over his Chinese raiment he wore a Bishop's pontificals. The Bishop addressed the Congress in (ierman with a pronounced Lorraine accent, as he was a native of Lorraine. He has been in China /since itits.