The Catholic World

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXV, Issue 47, 21 November 1907, Page 31

The Catholic World

CANADA— Death of a Jesuit The death took 'place at ' Montreal, Canada, on Sep-tember-3, of Rev. John Alexander Somerled Maoclonald S.J. He was the son of Roderick Charles Macdonald', ■ lieutenant-colonel of the Castle of Tioram Regiment of HighlaLders, chief of the. Higjhliahd Society of Nova Scotia. The deceased Jesuit was consequently (says the • Glasgow Observer ') the grandson of- Colonel John Macdonald, representative of the Ulenal'adale branch of the great clanranalds who disposed of his estates in Scotland and emigrated to Prince Edward Islands, with his dependents, in TITS. Father Macdonald's mother was Elizabeth, daughter of .Alexander Ranaldson Macdonell 18th chief of Glengarry. Born in Bermuda in 1840, he was raised to the priesthood in 1872 in Baltimore,' by the Bishop' of Wilmington, and exercised the ministry (lie past thirty-five years in Montreal and other Canadian ' Jesuit missions. In 1901 he was recalled to Montreal to attend -the spiritual wanis of the parish of the Immaculate Conception. It was there he was stationed when the last summons came suddenly, but it did not find him unprepared. CHINA— More Boxer Trouble A press message from Shanghai states that an outbreak of J3oxerism is reported from NaniKangihsien,~"-m the ' south of. the province of Kiangsi. Several Chinese converts and an Italian priest have been murdered in the village' of Tawooli. The mission station of the Lazarist Fathers at Kanchowfu lias been biftnt. The missionaries escaped to Kianfu, and telegraphed for assistance. ENGLAND— The Cardinal Manning Centenary The Cardinal Manning centenary is to he celebrated with great pomp and circumstance" in London next year. On the aay appointed commemoration services will be - celebrated simultaneously in all the London churches. It is proposed that at the time, in addition to a great demonstration in the Albert Hall, a great outdoor meeting should bfe held in Hyde Park in order to give co-operative' and trade union societies, temperance and other bodies, public opportunity of testifying their respect for the great prelate who had the interest of. the -workers so much at heart. The -Revision of the Vulgate Abbot Gasquet, who has just been appointed chairman of Hie committee for ihe revision of the Vulgate (says the ' Catholic Weeldy '), is in the very first rank of English historical writers, and English Catholics are very proud to be able to point to him as a member of their "body. He is a Londoner by birth, and is in" his sixty-second, year. He has been connected with the illustrious Benedictine Order ever' since his sixteenth year, during which he entered Downside College. And the Order ,, recognised his remarkable abilities from the very beginning. So early as his thirty-second year in 1878, he was elected Prior of Downside. He held that office till 1885, and durina; his tenure of it Down- - side College made gigantic- strides. Through his perception of the needs of the and his indomitable energy and perseverance, the "college became recognised both in and outside the Catholic body,- as an educa- . tional institution that was seconS to none in the country. - His health eventually gave way— in 1885— under his strenuous labors, and he had, under medical command to retire from the college. ' It has become " abundantly evident since that Downside's loss was England s', even Europe's gain, and all English Catholics • would ?ay to-day in. reference to the breakdown of health m 1885, ' Felix culpa.'- Attbot Gasquet. has of course, met with high appreciation outside his Order and even outside the Catholic body. His late Holi- * ness Pope Leo XIII. nominated him a member of the Commission) on Anglican Orders, and recognised his abilities in other ways. He is an honorary member of tthe Athenaeum Club, a fact which shows in the very best way possible how highly he is esteemed in the world of scholars. •' J ITALY—Social Work The Catholic workmen of Italy (writes a Rome correspondent),- following the example of , their co-religi O i>lsts in France, have initiated a social congress which is to be held yearly for 'seven 'days and during " which' Lectures' .are to be delivered to the laboring classes These gatherings have for object the closer union of the. Catholic organisations. The leaders of the Cathohcs have realised that in a country like Italy, besides unity m a religious sense, the Catholics have to be

organised in order that each and every one of the'many economic problems may be sqlved in an advantageous manner to them. These lectures were delivered this year at Pistoia and were well attended. Cardinal Maffii, Archbishop of Pisa/ who presided over the gatherings, made the opening speech, which was cordially received. It is believed that this meeting of "Catholic labor ■ leaders will bear good fruit throughout Italy. One of . the principal speakers was Professor Toniolo, of -the University of Pisa. In reply to a letter of homage ■' sent by Cardinal Maffl the Pope wrote an autograph answer -in which he expressed his gratification at the •success of the uongress, praised the initiative that had been taken, and said he hoped it might prove beneficial to Catholics at large. JAPAN — A Serious Loss Some weeks ago it was reported that the city of Hakodate, Japan, had been devastated by a terrible fire. The • Society for the Propagation of the* Faith has rel ceived from Monsignor Berlioz, Bishop of Hakod'ate,a - few complementary details to the short' message that brought us" news of .the sad event. ' Tnis conflagration is a repetition of tlie fire of 1879 that laid waste half of the city, which then had a population of 40,000. Before the recent calamity the city numbered 100,000 inhabitants'; 70,000 of ' these unfortunate people - now have no shelter but the fastnesses of the mountains. AIL the principal buildings have been destroyed and all the Catholic institutions are in ruins. The church (built, thirty years ago at the close of the last persecution), the mission house, the Bishop's residence the novitiate of the Sisters' of St. Paul, the orphanage' the foundling asylum, and the school that accommo^' dated 300 pupils, all were a prey to the flames. Two missionaries, twenty Sisters, more than a hundred or.pnans, and abqut 700 Christians are now destitute and homeless. Their only hope is that their brethren throughout the world will be moved by Christian charity to succor their distress. ROME— The Holy Father's Jubilee In an audience which he granted recently to the Archbishop of Corfu the Holy Father, as he had already done on several occasions, expressed the desire that .the celebration of his jubilee should have a strictly religious character. * SWITZERLAND— Church Progress „ ,7 c , r7r 7 interesting statistics as to the progress of the Catholic faith in Switzerland have just been published in one of the Catholic papers of that country. At - the beginning of the nineteenth century the Catholics of the Helvetian Republic numbered little more than 400,000. -Their number tcnday is I,4oo,ooo— that is to say, the augmentation in .a century has been a million, or- at the rate of 10,000 a year. Dr. Buomberger who has made- this enumeration, attributes Hhe-in-crease largely to in- migration from the neighboring: French departments, from Alsace-Lorraine,- and from Italy. He adds the interesting detail that the number of births in Catholic families is much larger than in Protestant ones. The diocese which seems to possess the most intense religious life is that of LausanneGeneva. Fribourg, as most people know, is a town with a youthful anid brilliant Catholic University a marvellous centre of intellectual culture and of- faith c In general, in all the provinces of the Swiss Confederation there is a veritable overflowing of all kinds of Catholic works, which have drawn -to them the • attention and the sympathies of tlie Protestants themselves. ' UNITED STATES—CathoHc Schools In New York There are now in Greater New York '149 free elementary, schools and three free high schools. In 1906 the attendance was 93,000. Incomplete re>fns show tnat this ye.ar .there is a large increase. .' It is be- ■ heved that now 100,000 pupils are registered.. Works of Charity The. solemn blessing and formal opening of ten large new buildings in one afternoon is an event (says- the New York 'Catholic News') that marks an epoch in tne. history of charitable -and philanthropic work in Ujis country The' ceremony was performed on last -Lot7n' 8 ' by Archbishop Farley, at Mo.ynt L,oietto, T Staten Island, the country home of the Mission "£l % Immaculate Virgin: The ten neyt buildings have • S?w * mU rr r *; t a Cost . o f £110,000, exclusive of - fur- :. nishnff, There are , six* flormitofies, school, . large 'din-" " S?* h< 4' e ? gi £? roo ' m < toiler :room, etc: On the oppo- 1 ' site side of the. parade ground are to be erected len SS? i b ™ w * n S s ' including' ,six more '.dormitories, ' a school, administration building, convent for the -'Sisters ' and residence for the priests. The ' work 3C. buildings' ".will be Started in the. near futu?e

A New Order • An event that is destined to go down in history, and which is of r especial interest to the Lithuanian people of the United States, took place on August 29, in the chapel of Mount St. Mary's Seminary, Scranton, Pa., when Right Rev. J. W. Shanahan, D.D., Bishop of Harrisburg, laid the foundation of the new Order of St. Casimir by receiving the vows of the young ladies who are the first members. Bishop Shanahan having • laid the needs of the Lithuanian people in regard to the religious education of their children before, the College of the Propaganda in Rome, after careful deliberation the necessary permission was accorded to him to " go on with the work, and the result was the founding of the Order of St. Casimir.