The Catholic World

New Zealand Tablet, 20 March 1913, Page 55

The Catholic World

PORTUGAL ACTION OF THE GOVERNMENT On October 12, 1912, there appeared in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis a Pontifical declaration issued by the Sacred Congregation of Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs, treating of the pension which the Portuguese Government offered to the clergy, under very degrading conditions. The declaration praised those priests wno had preferred poverty, and even hunger and thirst, to disloyalty towards their Bishops and towards the Holy See —at the same time it was full of mercy and kind consideration for those who, under such difficulties, had yielded to the temptation. Each individual case was to be examined by the respective Bishops. Not much offence in all this, one would think. But the fanatic Masonic hand that, for the time being, rules over the destinies of Portugal, has thought otherwise, and declares this Papal document to be ‘ offensive, and an attack on the State ' — and orders it ‘ to be sequestrated wherever found.’ All this in the sacred name of ‘ liberty ’! THE REAL GOVERNORS OF THE COUNTRY. The strongest political force in poor Portugal is, beyond doubt, the secret society of the Carbonados. This mysterious society (says the Times), affords scope for speculation both as to the number of its adherents and the master brain which directs it, but that its ramifications extend wide and deep into the Army and Navy and Civil Service admits of no doubt. As active membership is said to carry the right to a salary, it has naturally found a fruitful recruiting-ground among the dregs of the population. It thrives on espionage and delation, and while it has defeated ail attempts to subvert the Republic from outside, it has successfully terrorised the moderate elements of the community within. So thoroughly has this irresponsible body done its work that it has stamped out whatever elements' of civic virtue had survived the blighting influence of the Monarchical regime. Fear is the ruling motive in Portuguese politics to-day. . It may be added, says the Tablet , that a prominent emigre Royalist, Senhor H. Christo, editor of the anti-Republican Provo de Aveiro, has assured a representative of the Morning Post that the Carbonarios are among the chief causes of the financial difficulties in which Portugal is involved. There are, he explains, 32,000 of them in the country. They are members of a secret society, and yet they axe ‘ spies in the service of the Government, and each one of them receives from the State a salary of £6 per month/ If these figures are correct, Portugal is paying well over two millions a year for the maintenance of the chief obstacle to her peace. ROME BLESSING THE LAMBS. On the Feast of St. Agnes there was the usual large concourse of people at the Basilica of Sant’ Agnese extra muros, where, after the Pontifical High Mass, the little lambs were blessed. These are the gift, or tribute, of the Canons of Sant’ Agnese to the Lateran Church. The Trappist Fathers at Tre Fontane rear them, and present them to Sant’ Agnese. After being blessed there they are taken to the Vatican, and the Holy Father blesses them again and sends them to the Convent of St. Cecilia to be cared for and looked after till Easter. There, from their wool, are made the Sacred Pallia, worn by Archbishops. , EXPECTED PAPAL ENCYCLICAL. Following the publication of the programme arranging in detail the celebrations that are to be held in Rome this year in honor of the sixteenth centenary of the Peace of Constantine, the issue of a much more important document is expected (writes a Rome correspondent). It is said that the Holy Father will shortly issue an Encyclical relative to the great event, the

memory of which the Church in every clime is about to celebrate in a manner worthy of its dignity. ' Prophecies as to the nature of what Pius X. may say in his Encyclical are, of course, not lacking, and they are, it is unnecessary to add, to be considered only as efforts of tho imagination.

A CATHOLIC TRAINING COLLEGE. % According to the Vatican correspondent of the Carriers della Sera (Milan), a large college will be inaugurated in the near future at Frascati, near Rome, for the purpose of educating young men for the teaching profession. The course will include all branches of college work and practical teaching, while particular attention will be given to a complete Catholic instruction, and the formation of the Catholic teacher. The money for the new institute has been provided entirely by the Holy Father. It has cost over £12,000, and an endowment has been made for its future upkeep. The new undertaking is to be entrusted to the Salesian Fathers, and all those engaged in the teaching departments must have university degrees. The Holy Father’s purpose is clear. The new undertaking is in keeping with his previous endeavors to secure sound religious instruction for future generations, and it is the application of his legislation on the teaching of Christian doctrine and the Catholic training of the young. It is remarkable that, by the wishes of the Holy Father, great secrecy has been maintained concerning the new venture, but the inauguration will be made the occasion, for an assembly that will attract the attention even of the non-Catholic world. SCOTLAND THE ARCHDIOCESE OF GLASGOW. Some interesting particulars of the Glasgow archdiocese have just been published. The secular clergy of the archdiocese in active service number 220 and the regulars 43. There are 93 missions, 128 churches, chapels, and stations, 120 schools, and- 15 charitable institutions. The statistics of education are most encouraging. The total number of children on the school rolls of the archdiocese is 72,968, and the education is enti listed to 1478 teachers. There are now ■in the archdiocese ten higher grade centrestwo for boys, six for girls, and two for mixed scholars—and these are well equipped to meet modern demands in the matter of secondary education. A feature of particular interest in connection with the educational provision of the archdiocese is the Institution for Deaf, Dumb, and Blind Children, under the care of the Sisters of Charity, Glasgow, which has obtained Government sanction. GENERAL THE CHURCH IN AUSTRALASIA. An Anglican clergyman, Rev. Mr. Watts-Ditch-field, recently returned to England from a nine months’ tour in Australasia, has been giving an account of his experiences and impressions. He considers that there is a danger of Australia becoming ‘Roman.’ ‘The Roman Catholic clergy,’ he says, have been wonderful in their enterprise. If one saw a magnificent building in Sydney or Melbourne or Adelaide, one did not need to ask what it was ; it was sure to be the Roman Catholic church.’