Current Topics

New Zealand Tablet, 30 March 1911, Page 565

Current Topics

- <t> v Bishop Duhig's Pastoral His Lordship Dr. Duhig, Bishop of Rockhampton, in his able and comprehensive Lenten Pastoral, scores rather neatly against the Queensland Government. That Government carried during the last session of the State Parliament an ' Education Act Amendment Act,' introducing into the Queensland State Schools the provisions regarding religious education which obtain under the well-known New South Wales system. Dr. Duhig shows that for over 30 years the Government of Queensland have been availing themselves of the secular education given in the Catholic schools for the development of the State's resources in every branch of industry. For this it ha 3 refused to pay, on the ground that it is the product of a religious school; and yet (says- Dr. Duhig) without any promise of redress to the Catholic body, it has turned round, and introduced into its State schools the very principle which has hitherto debarred the denominational schools from receiving a subsidy, namely, religious education. * The whole . passage is a telling one, and well worth passing on to our readers. ' The wrong now being done to us in the matter of educational endowment,' writes Bishop Duhig, ' will continue so long as Catholics remain apathetic. Of the justice of our claim to a share of the State revenue devoted to education there can be no doubt. A primary need of any country is the education of its people. Were the Government of Queensland to call for tenders for any article required by the State, and then, while using such article, to refuse to pay for it on the sole ground that although up to standard in every respect, it was manufactured by a Jew, or a Catholic, or an Anglican, 'they would be denounced as intolerable bigots. Well, the Government of Queensland for over 30 years have been availing themselves of the secular education given in the Catholic schools for the development of the State's resources in every branch of industry. And according to all recognised tests this secular education has been up to standard. The refusal to pay for it has been based precisely on the ground that it is the product of a religious school. This is assuredly unjust, and the injustice is accentuated now that, without any promise of redress to the Catholic body, we find the Government at last introducing into the Public schools the very principle which has hitherto debarred the denominational schools from receiving a subsidy—namely, religion in education. Catholics cannot but feel themselves driven to demand that tho long-standing grievance be removed. Only unity and organisation that will tell at the polls can bring this about.' Getting at the Facts If Mrs. McCann were at all a sensitive sort of person —which she very manifestly is not —she would by this time be praying to bo saved from her friends. Not out of sympathy for her, but for purely political purposes, her illadvised Orange champions dragged the case into the arena of the House of Commons; and in the thorough and comprehensive airing which it received in the Parliamentary discussion the humbug and hypocrisy which from first to last have marked this unprincipled agitation were fully exposed. We give elsewhere the substance of the vigorous and telling speeches made by Messrs Birrell, Dillon, and Devlin, the effect of which is to place this now famous case in a very unpicturesque, not to say squalid, setting, and at the same time to vindicate the priests from the faintest imputation of interference with the 'happy home.' For the convenience of readers we briefly summarise the main facts which were brought out in the House of Commons discussion. It was shown: (1) That, in the opinion of Mr. Birrell, K.C., 'nothing would have been easier for Mrs. McCann than to obtain in a civil court all the remedies she requires.' (2) That before any priest made his appearance on the scene at all the domestic life of the McCanns was anything but happy, and the police had to be called in frequently owing to their quarrels. > (3) That every statement in Mrs. McCann's memorial to the Lord Lieutenant was specifically and emphatically denied by McCann. (4) That the priests did nothing whatever to interfere with a ' happy home,' but that, on the contrary, two of them were in the first instance sent for with the express view of getting them to make peace. (5) That the Orange speakers were challenged again and again to name the priest who had, as they alleged, advised Mrs. McCann's husband to leave her, and the, challenge was not taken up. Both Mr. Devlin and Mr. Dillon repudiated the assertion that a priest did this, and declared that if a priest were named he would at once test tho matter in a court of law by taking action for. libel. (6) That Mr, Devlin has received

specific statements from each of the three priests in the district to the effect that they had not persuaded or in any way induced the man to desert the woman, as alleged. (7) That the alleged desertion took place in October, and that the facts were then known to Mrs. McCann's friends, but no action was taken by them till December, five days before the West Belfast election, whenas one indiscreet partisan expressly stated —it would ' be useful in stiffening up the waverers.' * If. the priests did not persuade or induce McCann to leave the woman, the protesters have not so much as a vestige of a grievance against the Church; and the whole agitation stands exposed—in . Mr. Devlin's expressive phrase— ' a scandalous political dodge.' East and West: A Plea for Reunion The fatherly care extended by the late Pope to Eastern Christians outside the True Fold resulted from time to time in the return of considerable numbers of schismatics to Catholic unity. Just a few weeks prior to the death of the late Pontiff, the Greek Catholic Church—according to the Missions Catholiques of that date— what was described as a veritable conquest in the conversion en masse of more than 15,000 separated Greeks belonging to the districts of Ackar, Hosu, and Safita. The decision—■ according to this authority—' by which these people abjured their errors and returned to the bosom of the Church was taken some time previously, when a deputation was sent to Mgr. Doumani, Greek Catholic Melchite Bishop of Tripoli, to petition that they might be received.' In addition to the actual conversions recorded, the continued paternal solicitude of the Holy See appears to have created a kindlier spirit among the schismatics and to have laid the foundation for what is described as an important internal movement which seems now to be taking shape amongst Greek Orthodox Christians. * It has found expression in a very interesting pastoral letter just issued by the Metropolitan of Beyrout, the Greek Orthodox Archbishop, Monsignor Gerassimos Messara, with the approval of the Patriarch of Antioch, to all the Greek Orthodox Christians. A French translation of the letter appeared in the Jeune Turc of January 5, at Constantinople; and . a translation from the Koelnische Volkszeitung —whose Constantinople correspondent had forworded the text of the documentappears in a recent issue of the Catholic Times. The pastoral breathes throughout a spirit of the most fervent desire for reunion. ' The Churches of God in the East and in the "West lived in this unity for a number of centuries,' says the Archbishop. ' The authentic and exalted monuments 'of the union of all the Churches of God are to be found in the Ecumenical Councils at which all the Bishops, followers of the Apostles, united around the Patriarchs of the four Apostolic Sees of the East under the presidency of the Pope of Rome, who is the first of the Patriarchs. We proclaim to the Christian world that our warmest desire is to see the restoration of this ancient unity on the firm* and enduring basis of the Apostolic teaching and tradition as they have been handed down in the writings of the Fathers and the authentic Acts of the Ecumenical Councils.' After referring to the subjects of dispute, Mgr. Messara puts in a strong plea for the reconciliation of differences. 'These explanations being made,' he says, we recognise that the belief of the Western and the Eastern Churches was formerly the same, and that subsequently., a change took place. But we earnestly wish that all the essential differences which separate them should be removed, and that the East and West should again arrive at the ancient unity in the same belief and the same love, should mutually pardon one another any wounds that may have been inflicted on one side or the other in the past, and should remember the command of their common Master, "By this sign shall men know that you are My disciples, because you love one another." '

The Greeks reject the words Filiogue ('and from the Son'), referring to the procession of the Holy Ghost, in the Creed, and they do not use the word ' Purgatory,' but they teach that there are two hells, from one of which there is no redemption ; and they pray for the dead. 'ln all other points of doctrine,', says Hefele, 'they are in full agreement with the Latin Church.' The Catholic Church cannot, of course, compromise on any point of doctrine, but the differences in this case seem to' be more a matter of words than of reality; and if our Greek brethren are genuinely earnest in their desire there seems reason to anticipate that something practical may result. Losing their Grip It is sometimes instructive, though in present circumstances never pleasant, to record in our day the relaxing

hold of any form of Christianity upon its adherents. The losses of the sects are often, happily, gains to the Church, | but in probably the greater number of cases, the gains aro for the ranks of indifferentism or unbelief. Both Catholic and non-Catholic exchanges are at present giving prominence to the fact that in England what are known as the Free Churches have for some time past been steadily losing ground, and year by year have had to record more losses than gains. ' The continued decline in membership,' says the Dunedin Outlook, ' of the leading Nonconformist Churches in the Old Land is giving rise to a good deal of heartsearching. For the past four or five years the Baptists, Congregationalists, and Methodists have all reported a decrease, and the Baptist and Congregationalist statistics for 1910 show a further diminution of 3775 and 1587 respectively.' Last year,' says the Dunedin Evening Star, quoting the annual handbook of the Baptist body, ' the hope was expressed that the arrest in the progress of the churches in Great Britain had reached its limit. This expectation has not been realised. There is again a considerable decline in the membership of the Welsh churches, accompanied this time by small decreases in England and Scotland also.' The figures showing the Wesleyan decline were given a few months ago in this column. * The causes of this serious decline aro discussed at considerable length in some of the English newspapers. Mr. Arthur Henderson, M.P., expresses the view that ' There is a tendency to over-elaborate the machinery of the Church, and to spend time and energy upon conferences' ; while another writer declares that ' there is too much talk and too little real work going on in the churches.' On the whole, however, the critics are agreed that the chief responsibility is to be laid upon the shoulders of the ministers. Sir R. W. Perks, a leading Wesleyan Methodist, is particularly severe on the unhappy parson. ' The trouble,' he says, ' arises from a feeble type of preacher who has either not enough courage or brains to preach the Gospel, and a curious modern development called the Sociologist.' A writer in the London Daily Chronicle, whose thoughtful and well-informed article attracted the most attention and aroused the most comment, has, in our humble judgment, hit tho nail squarely on the head. While expressing his reluctance to criticise ministers, he declares that .' intellectual arrogance and the preaching of an emasculated Gospel are the two greatest perils of the ministry to-day.' Long ago Mr. D. L. Moody, the wellknown American revivalist, said precisely the.same thing. ' The Protestant Churches,' he said, ' were half empty because ministers, instead of preaching the Gospel, were plaguing their congregations with "pulpit essays and political discussions.'.' The people, therefore, ' go away empty and stay away.' They ' like doctrinal subjects '; and the way to win them back was to "preach the old doctrines faithfully"— repentance, atonement, regeneration, the law, love, faith, hope, justice, grace, the resurrection, and generally, ' the great fundamental truths of Christianity, from which,' said Mr. Moody, in many places, the (Protestant) Churches seem to be separating, with the result that their audiences are depleted, and the power of the pulpit gone.' It is impossible to view without a feeling of uneasiness the steady advance of the tide of practical infidelity; and the decline of the sects is, for us, not somuch matter of rejoicing, as of warning. The defects in the Protestant ministry rioted by the two thoughtful critics above quoted are, to the Catholic 'mind, summed up in one word—Modernism ; and the inroads which this movement has made amongst ministers, and its visibly blighting effect upon the Protestant pulpit/furnish a striking vindication of the wisdom of the Holy Father's policy in striking at the insidious heresy whenever and wherever it may show its head. A Methodist President Speaks We have long felt that if by any means it were possible for us to get into touch with the leaders of the non-Catholic religious bodies we would make the agreeable discovery that the friends of religious education in the country are much more numerous than we had ever imagined. Unexpected testimony in confirmation of that view is continually coming to hand. Only a week or two ago we quoted 'from an Anglican paper an unqualified endorsement of the resolutions adopted at the Catholic Education Conference held recently at Sydney, which it commended to its readers as ' sound doctrine ' not for Catholics only but for Anglicans also. And now we have the Rev. C. J. Prescott, M 4. President of the Methodist Conference, which has just concluded its sittings in Sydney, laying down principles on the education question almost identical with those which have been over and over again expressed by our Catholic authorities, and which, if carried to their logical con-

elusion, abundantly justify the Catholic attitude on the question. Mr. Prescott is known throughout the Methodist community as an experienced headmaster and able educationist, so that his utterance has practical value of a quite exceptional kind. Our quotations are taken from the V full report appearing in the Sydney Daily Telegraph of / March 1. . * ' In the course of his retiring presidential address, speaking expressly ' of the Church's idea of education,' he said: ' Nothing will ever persuade her that she has no duty here. Even those Christians who are willing to acquiesce in a purely secular system do so with the opinion that religious training must be provided in some way apart. But the connection between the Church and education has been so close for ages that it is idle to think she can be content to have nothing to say. Apart from her obligation to instruct her children in religious truth, she insists thac morality must be based on religion.' Reviewing the existing systems in other countries, he shows —as Catholic writers have often donethat many nations have discarded the 'secular solution without in any way bringing on themselves the disasters that are so confidently predicted. 'ln Denmark the law compels dogmatic religious instruction in schools. In Norway religion stands first in every curriculum of study. In Germany ' religion is everywhere taught in public, schools, and is assumed to be not only a proper, but even a necessary, basis of moral instruction and training. . . . No child escapes this training, for it is imposed by law upon all. We know how controversy has raged in England, but Professor Sadler, one of our best authorities, declares that "the majority of Englishmen have held to the conviction that ethical training in school should rest upon a religious basis, at least so far as the graver aspects of conduct are concerned." ' * Mr Prescottwho speaks, as we have already' said, with exceptional authority outspoken and emphatic on the fact that neither the work done by the Sunday School, nor the opportunities given by the much-vaunted New South Wales system, are at all adequate for the real religious training of the young. 'Our Sunday schools," he says,; • aro doing a great work, and the reading of the Bible and the visits of the clergy to our State schools are valuable elements in our system. But there are defects. The' Sunday school has two elements of weakness. Too often—a fact that no one regrets more than the managers teaching is that of amateurs, and does not compare in quality with that of professional teachers, and, what is more serious, the children who need training in religious truth most are those whose parents are least concerned to send them to school. The complaint as to truancy 'in the day schools is loud; if the clientele of the Sunday schools were large, they would have to utter an exceeding bitter cry. As to our public schools, religious training has severe limits. The total number of visits by clergymen and other teachers to give religious instruction in 1909 was 45,676, justifying the statement of the Year Book that the opportunity has not been used to a very great extent. Every denomination knows the difficulties of the case, and the children of the smaller denominations are probably not visited at all. Valuable as our system is, I have been forced to believe for some years that it is only a partial solution of the problem, and that whatever be our mind to-day, our State has not said its last word on the subject.'

* Mr. Prescott did not altogether escape criticism—chiefly because it was seen that his utterance favored the attitude which has always been adopted by the Catholic body. In a subsequent discussion on the address, the Rev. J. E. Carruthers pointed out that the President was expressing only his own views, ' which might be made use of in other quarters, little as such a happening was to be desired.' The President, however, knew too well what he was talking about to allow himself to be bluffed or browbeaten from the position he had taken, and he stood manfully to his guns. ' I expressed these views,' he replied, ' after years of experience of educational work, and a few years will serve to show whether I am right or not.'