THE CHURCH IN NEW ZEALAND

New Zealand Tablet, 17 September 1908, Page 13

THE CHURCH IN NEW ZEALAND

MEMOIRS OF THE EARLY DAYS (Contribute^.) SOUTHLAND. -, During the'mid-sixties the principal settled por-" ll u n % ° f Southland . were visited by the Marist Fathers, > the first missionaries being Father Moreau, who made the then rising town of Dunedin his headquarters, his confrere being Father Martin. As previously mentioned, the mission of Father Martin was to 'travel through the back country searching for members of his scattered flock, an occupation which kept him almost constantly in the saddle. ' In the Southland Times ot October, 1864, an account appeared of the opening ceremony of the first humble church in Invercargill (St. Mary s), erected by -Father Martin. The recently erected church in Clyde street, for .the use of the Catholic congregation (states the report), was dedicated °?w U ?r ay aSt by the Ri S ht Rev - Dn Viard > Bishop of Wellington. He was assisted by the Vicar-General, the Very Rev J J. P O'Reilly, and Rev. Father Martin. At half-past 10 o'clock, the hour appointed for the -opening ceremony, the sacred edifice was filled in every part, many of other denominations being in attendance. In an inaugural address the Bishop warmly complimented the Catholics of the district on the perseverance they had displayed, under difficulties of no ordinary nature, in the erection of a place of worship ; fully acquainted as he was with their lov* ol the Church, he had come amongst them to confirm and strengthen them in their holy work. At a later stage in the proceedings the Very. Rev. Vicar-General took the opportunity of thanking all 'those who had contributed towards the erection of the church He mentioned particularly the name of Mr. Davles/who although belonging to another denomination, had given most liberally towards the erection of the building and among the members of their .own congregation the name of Mr Muiray, to whom they were much indebted for his perseverance and exertions in their cause. From the Tablet report of the recent opening of the fine new St. Mary's Church,' which replaced the historic one just referred to, I extract the following :— borne idea of the rapidity with which events have marched during the past forty years may be gained by the fact that 'Lttd St. Mary's" (as it if now " called) was the first: Catholic Church in Southland ihat of Riverton (which was erected in 1877) was the second, and until so. late as JBB2, when the church was erected at Gore, there was no Catholic place or worship between Invercargill and Milton. So recently ?LT' t ay w< s k J April 3°> 1905) there were interred m Invercargill the mortal remains of Mr. MaheIP;'* ™ as one "of the active promoters of the first Catholic Church erected in the southern capital His interment took place on the day on which the last Mass was celebrated in the old church, erected- in 1864 Father Martin left behind him in Invercargill and Tuapeka and elsewhere in the diocese of Dunedin " name and memory which are a' benediction. He was succeeded by Father Billiard, then followed . Father Carden, and after him came Father Higgins.' of slStwJ; 1*T S - Ken ? ed y' ?f? f Greymouth, a resident SfrfrfS^F d ii du " nfir he writes, of, I, am Fro m X . th c e Q interesti "g: Particulars which follow? 3 From about 1882 to 1887 Invercargill and the sur tT'rTv dl FaX S -M r ? SCrVed by the J esu^ fSCS le^f aSfnts Trio ihe Do rC?t - tion r amed - • Durin *- their term O S office in^odSSd^Th? ll^ TST S es . tabli ? hed > and the nuns introduced. The first Superioress was Sister' Do Ricci who died some -time ago at Geraldton, Western Australia. The opening of the convent was a rerlp It" 15 f i° r thC d^ trict ' On that occasion the Rev Father Mclnroe, who had a wide -reputation « a £ scholar and as an eloquent preacher, declared the open!

iof,H° f fi h l C T Ven } tO be the g™&test blessing that could be. bestowed upon the congregation Under sttides In the district. He made long and frequentjourneys on horseback, visiting the-pe^ple in o2t-X active ma P n V Fa ; hCl ' Rddy was "an exceptionally SaSdbaU F n l an ept at the ° ftCe P°P ular & ame of f™- llc Father^Keenan, who came later, tlso led a strenuous life. He was invariably accompanied on his travels by an Australian friend, a huge kangaroo hound. Then came Father Dooley? and hf and F?tW Mclnroe were the last of the Jesuits in New Zea n The .last-named, together with' Father O'Malley were originally brought from Australia by -BishotfMo^ to conduct a high school at Dunedin. Fathe? Dookv was a brother of the parish priest of Galway atfd as a large proportion of^the Irish Catholics of Southland weiefrom the vicinity of the City of the Tribes he was at home amongst his co-religionists. He wasenS in what promised to be a mSnumentaJ wor^ the" Lrles of the Archbishops of Ireland.' BiZp ' Mor an frereTsdinT^/^^T 11 ' and man y stirring addiess did he deliver in the old church. Another wel B°uX Vl t!f r " thOSC da ys'was Father" (now DeTn) Burke, the present pastor of the parish. There were not many who dared to cross swords with this champion of the Church, who -bn one notable occal on in those days routed a whole host of assai an?s who was'te^- ?T'V° n ' S dit ° r of the Southed Ti^es,. thf lut '<> declare that it was beyond comparisw quent y M.H.R., and now Native Judge Gilfedder frequently took the floor in debates and literary congests About vthis time Father Mclnroe rendered notable weTn ? U ; e .? aUSe ° f trUth - " One of the local papers went out of its way to publish in full a, tirade of an alleged 'escaped nun.' An election Was looming in the >B ear luture,. and one of the proprietors waf aS aspirant for parliamentary honors. It was the General opinion that the publication mentioned was ?a SrSchse^tio C n° nC f ei ;; ed bld f ° r - PP ° litical SU PP° rt Ipectl section of the community. But Father Mclnrof was not the man to sit down tamely' and hear the ChuTch rtned OW S SU f°n & paStor »aHg»ed iS rZti t6 - followin g- Sunday evening, to a - packed congregation, the valiant Jesuit scathingly denounced the tactics of the journalist in questiof who .by the way was defeated at the election. Father Mclnroe was killed , in the streets of Sydney a few fnWed^v" 11116 en *™> rin * to save a child f ro^m be ng injured by a runaway horse. 5 (To be continued.) - '