The Catholic World

New Zealand Tablet, 22 October 1908, Page 31

The Catholic World

CANADA-— Representative Catholics Lord Lovat,- who returned to Beaufort Castle, Inverness-, shite, the other day from Canada (remarks the Edinburgh CafJi'f olic Herald), had a -most interesting experience in the Dominion. " The Catholic chief of "the _Frasers had the warmest and mosi--cordial of welcomes -from, his numerous Canadian clansmen, more especially -frbm^thtje; large number of them professing the Catholic Faith" - lf v was extremely interesting to his Lordship to find in the French-speaking districts of Canada Frasers who knew no other "tongue but French, and who yet kept up the old - clan spirit, and displayed the Fraser tartan prominently _in ' their houses. Lord Lovat received a number of addresses in Gaelic, French, and English, and his fine presence and genial unassuming manner made everywhere ~ai excellent impression. Both the Duke of Norfolk and Lord Lovat were, as representative British Catholic nobles, welcomed wuh paiticular heartiness by the Bishops and clergy of Canada, as well as by the large Catholic population, whose ardent devotion 10 their religion is well known. It is no seciot that the Fund' Canadian Catholirs were profoundly dissatisfied at the act-on cf tha French Government in sending over to the recent celebrations representatives of France who were notorious for their strong anti-Catholic bias, and were', indeed, known to be prominent Free.nasons. In proportion to the resentment felt by the Catholics of Canada at what seemed like a studied slight to their deepest convictions, was the intense satisfaction they felt at welcoming among them the distinguished Catholic representatives from England and Scotland. And it is particularly inteiesting to know that a certain reserve and restraint which they at first felt in presence of the head of the Howards, the premier noble of this realm, entirely melted away before the warm affability and the entire absence of anything like haughtiness ur ' stand-offishness which characterise the Duke of Norfolk. The visit of the Duke and Lord Lovat to Canada was, in short, in every respect an unqualified success. CEYLON— Catholic Progress An Oblate missionary, going to take part in the General Chapter of his Order in Rome, supplied the Catholic-Times with the following religious statistics concerning Ceylon. In round numbers there arc in the island two millions of Buddhists, nearly one million of Brahmanists, 350,000 Mahommedans, 325,000 Catholics, and 70,000 Protestants. The Catholic population is now five times what it was a hundred years ago. Since 1893 there are five dioceses in Ceylon, viz., Colombo and Jaffna (Oblates of Mary Immaculate), Kandy (Sylvestrine Benedictines), and Galle and Trincomalie (Jesuits). In the .dioceses of Colombo and Jaffna there are 152 priests (36 being natives of fhe island); many professed Brothers (some natives); many nuns (some being natives) in convents, schools, and hospitals; two seminaries ; two colleges ; a training college for teachers ; , 520 Catholic elementary schools, with 42,000 pupils; three industrial schools; two English and two Tamil Catholic newspapers. ENGLAND — Pernicious Literature In the course of a sermon preached on Sunday, August 30, before members of Ihe annual conference of the Institute ol Journalists, in Manchester, the Right Rev. Dr. Casartelli, Bishop of Salford, referred to the pernicious effect exercised by certain Sunday papers, which, he said, served up. week by week immoral and filthy garbage. He protested against the existence of such papers. - ; Notable Church Jubilee The diamond jubilee of flic Catholic Cathedral of Salford ' was celebrated on Sunday, August 23, the Bishop of the Sea ' preaching at High Mass. His .Lordship, in the sermotf, recalled the situation in Europe when - the " Cathedral' was built, when Pius IX. was in exile from Rome, and in England there was no' regular diocese.- The Church had passed through the darJc shadow of the Penal Laws, and was slowly beginning to take a • place in public life. The whole of Lancashire and Cheshi.i» was under one prelate, Bishop Sharpies, an Ushaw man, ordained in Rome, and sent as a missionary priest to Lancashire At that time there was no Catholic church in Salford, and rhe building of the Cathedral was a bold conception. Cpntinuin* his discourse, the Bishop referred to h>s predecessors in the See' The Cathedral, which was free of debt and consecrated in 1890 had suffered heavily, through* the displacement of the population . the parish having- lost something like 4500 through remova.s during recent years.

ITALY—A Dramatic Incident . There- ~was a dramatic incident; at" Bergamo on Saturda/,. August 29 (leleghaphs the Milan "correspondent* of the Hotly Chronicle), at the close of the trial of a lad of seventeen named Maretti, who was charged with the theft of a gold watch and chain. The court was on the point of sentencing him to gaol for a couple of years when the parish priest of his native village of Scalso hurriedly entered, and, holding aloft the stolen property which he had received from the real thief, proclaimed the lad's innocence. The lawyers wanted the priest to reveal the identity of the culprit, but he declared that he, would rather die than do so. . "•'■• . ' ' ROME— Jubilee Medal A special bronze medal having on one side an excellent likeness of the Holy Father, in relief, has been struck in commemoration of the jubilee year. One of these medals will be presented to each or the pilgrims taking part in the National Pilgrimage which leaves London, under the auspices of the Catholic Association, this month. international Athletic Contest The International Athletic Contest,- which -was to, have been held at the Vatican in September in honor of the Papal- Jubilee, was postponed, chiefly on account of the' difficulty of housing ail the foreign - athletes who had announced .their intention of competing. _ v . The Romqn Vicariate At the beginning of the Pontificate of-Leo XIII. (says the Catholic Weekly) there was a report, which found" considerable credence at the time, that the Pontiff intended to enhance the dignity of the Roman diocese by raising all the parish priests of the Eternal City to the dignity of titular bishops. Pius X., in extending the series of -his groat reforms to the Roman Vicariate, is apparently about to give partial effect to this plan. It is stated on good authorify", says Rome, that he intends to suppress the office of Yice-Gerejit (always occupied by the Latin Patriarch of Constantinople) and to divide Rome into a number of deaneries or districts, perhaps four or five, at the head of each- of which is to be placed a bishop. All these bishops will help the Cardinal Vicar in confirming and ordaining, as 'well as in the administration of the purely diocesan affairs of Rome. SCOTLAND— A Gift for the Holy Father On the occasion of the Jubilee of his Holiness the Pope a ha. dsome gift will be presented by the Ci.tholic ladies of the Archdiocese of Edinburgh and St. Andrews. The gift takes the form of 29 chalices. A New Provost The vacancy caused by the death of the late deeply-venerated Very Rev. Hugh Provost Chisholm (writes a Glasgow correspondent) has been filled by the nomination of the Very Rev Canon Mackintosh, of St. Margaret's, Kinning Park, Glasgow. The appointment gives the greatest satisfaction to the Catholics and , the general public of St. Kentigern's great city. As his name I implies, the new Provost is a Highlander ; he belongs to one of those grand North-country families that centuries of persecution could not alienate from, the, faith. He was. born at Roy Bridge Inverness; ordained in 1871; for. several years on the staff of St' John's,, Glasgow; and first parish priest of .'the then newlyformed parish of St. Margaret's, where historic for many years has won the deep admiration and affection^of bis devoted people. vHe has beeaamember of the Chapter since 1885.'- ' : ' ' SOUTH AFRICA— The Eucharistic Congress Of .the six Catholic" BishopsMn South Africa/four we're present at the. Eucharistic Congress in London. ■' " -'_ UNITED STATES-Cathbiic^ocietles V; : *;he next annual - Convention of the American ESderation of • Catholic -Societies will be held at Pittsburg in 1909:" The meeting, which closed after a most successful session on August 13, adopted a resolution urging all Catholic working men not to affiliate themselves with the Socialist movement, • which, in its literature, its chief leaders, and its fundamental theory of , economics, is dominantly materialistic and atheistic' Missions to Non- Catholic Great interest has been aroused in Rome, according to the correspondent of the Standard, by the report on the work of the Apostolic Mission House at Washington presented to the Pope by Very Rev. A. P. Doyle. Judging by the extraordinary success of the first ten years' work of the mission in America, it is difficult, this correspondent says, to foretell how great may be

the results of the next few years. Through the agency of themissionary priests, ' highly trained and magnificently equipped instruments,' some 6000 converts have been already received into the Catholic Church in America. Among the- converts of last year were 30 Episcopalian ministers. Teachers in Retreat One hundred and twenty-five women teachers of the Boston public schools, at the close- of the -scholastic year, instead of going to seashore or mountain {or rest- and recreation, proceeded to Wellesley Hills for a week's^spiritual retreat at the Academy of the Assumption. Archbishop O'Connell vteited the institution and delivered an address to the teachers. He dwelt on the functions and duties of the Christian teacher, and pointed oi'. to them the nobility of (heir calling.