French Foreign Missions
Penang and the surrounding territory (writes the Rev. J. T. Roche, D.D., a priest now on tour in the East) are cared for by the society known as ‘Les Missions Etrangeres.; This society of secular priests, destined to work in pagan lands, is to-day; in charge of thirty-four dioceses, 0 and vicariates, here in the East. Seventeen hundred: mission-. aries, aided by eight hundred native priests, look after two million convert Catholics... Last year the report, shows that almost one hundred and forty thousand pagan children were baptised, in articAilo mortis, and sixty-five thousand new converts were added to the fold. The missionaries take no vow, and are free to return to their own diocese whenever they please. It is rare, however, that one avails himself of this privilege, and hundreds have fallen victims to fever and -disease, with no thought of abandoning the flocks committed to their care. If Catholic France had done nothing but give this splendid body of missionaries to the service of the Church, it would have earned .the gratitude of the faithful for all time to come. It is the thought of acts like this which gives us ground for hope that Almighty God will look down with mercy on the Eldest Daughter of the Church and deliver her from the enemies who now encompass her on every side. A hundred times during the course of my travels through the East I have said in my heart, . ‘ God bless France, that sends to these benighted regions the cultured, gentle, kindly priest, who has always a cordial word and a pleasant welcome for the stranger, who knows more about native customs, ; habits, manners and beliefs than any other European, no matter what his position, who is respected by all classes because of his devotion to duty and who has accomplished miracles, taking into account the means at his disposal.’
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New Zealand Tablet, 8 June 1911, Page 1039
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316French Foreign Missions New Zealand Tablet, 8 June 1911, Page 1039
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