The Catholic World

New Zealand Tablet, 4 March 1915, Page 53

The Catholic World

ENGLAND EXCHANGE OF PRISONERS OF WAR. The Holy Father’s proposal to the Powers for the exchange of war prisoners who are disabled for further service in the present conflict has been regarded with favor. The reply of King George was as follows:—' ‘ I desire to thank your Holiness for your telegram. It is with deep satisfaction that I and my Government welcomed your Holiness’s proposal, which lent weight to the suggestion we had already made to the German Government. That Government has just signified their consent, and I trust that the arrangement will have been put into force before many days of the New Year have passed.’ THE CAUSE OF THE WAR. In the suggestive discourse which he delivered at Westminster Cathedral on the last day of ' 1914, his Eminence Cardinal Bourne, passing over questions of politics and diplomacy, traced the war to its true cause. Men of superficial views and slight knowledge (says the Catholic Times) are at present talking of Christianity as if it were a failure as if it ought to have prevented the conflict. They forget the extent to which the people who have in their hands the guidance of nations had been casting Christianity aside. The war is due, not to the action of genuine Christians, but to the policy of those who in their pride and conceit imagined that Christianity and responsibility to God need not be taken into account. The lesson of the war is that they must be taken into account, and very impressively did the Cardinal dwell upon it. There would be no war to-day if men had accepted what Christ taught, and the way to establish such a state of affairs as will guarantee an enduring peace is to strive to make the world Christian in mind and heart. This is Cardinal Bourne’s message for the New Year, and it must arouse in the breasts of Catholics the sense of a twofold duty. Never was it more important that they should, in the first place, prove themselves true followers of Christ by the practice of their religion, and, in the next, that they should exert themselves to enable others to realise the value of the Catholic faith. FRANCE THE WAR AND THE MISSIONS. If the war has had the effect of arousing to activity the religious sentiments of many of the French people who had fallen into indifference, its results have been anything but favorable to religion in missionary lands. Firstly, people find it so hard to meet the pressing home demands on their purses that, the contributions to the foreign missions have very considerably fallen off. Secondly, the missions in some places have suffered severely through the loss of priests. Half of the fortythree missionaries belonging to the Lyons Society of African Missionaries who were at work in Egypt embarked for France as soon as they learned that mobilisation had been ordered. Of twenty-two religious on the Ivory Coast, sixteen, including Mgr. Moury, the Bishop, mobilised. Two hundred and fifty of the Missionaries of the Holy Ghost joined the ranks of the combatants in France. Haiti, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, the Belgian Congo, Angola, and Zanzibar have all lost the services of missionaries. In Palestine and throughout the whole of the Turkish Empire the work of the Catholic missionaries is at a standstill. Doubtless steps are taken to fill the places of the clergy who have gone to the colors, but it is safe to say that many of the missions will not for years recover the ground lost in consequence of the war. ITALY CIRCULATION, OF THE SACRED “SCRIPTURES. The monthly paper of the Bible Society (says the London Universe) contains a remarkably generous appreciation of Pope Benedict XV. *s zeal in the circula-

•• - • tion of the Sacred Scriptures in the vernacular. Before his elevation to the Archbishopric of Bologna, his Holiness had presided at Rome over the Society of " St. Jerome for the circulation of the Holy Gospels. This society brought out a new Italian version of the Gospels and the Acts which Pope Leo XIII. commended to the daily study of the faithful.. In six years nearly a million copies were sold and distributed throughout Italy, the bishops and clergy actively promoting their circulation. The late Pope Pius X. has been frequently misrepresented as discouraging the work. On the contrary he approved it, but wisely decided that for the present the Gospels and Acts were sufficient. In the year just passed Pope Benedict XV. Cardinal Chiesa, as he then was—gave renewed encouragement to the Society of St. Jerome, and since he became Pope, has bestowed his special blessing on the members and on their work. ROME BRITISH ENVOY AT THE VATICAN. Sir Henry Howard, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, accompanied by his secretary, Mr. John Duncan Gregory, and the assistant, Mr. John Sunderland Wilson, arrived by motor at the Vatican on Wednesday, December 30. At the foot of the papal staircase they were met by an escort of the Swiss Guards, who proceeded with them to the Pontifical apartments. Immediately his Holiness, wearing the mozetta and stole, descended to the Throne Room, where, surrounded by his Court, he received the English Minister. i he Secretary of the Congregation of Ceremonies, Mgr. Canali, introduced the Minister and his suite to the Holy Father. Sir Henry presented his credential letters in the usual manner and expressed the sentiments of his Government towards Ins Holiness. The Pope replied welcoming . him to the Papal Court and expressing his pleasure at seeing a representative of his Government amongst the Ministers to the Holy See. As customary, after the ceremony, Sir Henry was invited by his Holiness to his private apartments, where they remained in converse for a long time. Then followed the visit to the Cardinal Secretary of State. Before leaving the Vatican the Minister visited the Tomb of the Apostles. Cardinal Gasquet gave a reception in honor of the English Minister. Most of the English colony were invited to meet Sir Henry and his staff. SCOTLAND CATHOLICS IN GLASGOW. The Western Catholic Calendar for the archdiocese of Glasgow, containing much information of interest regarding the conditions of Catholicity in the archdiocese. There are 120 schools in the archdiocese, with accommodation for 89,504 pupils; the numbers on the rolls total 76,455, and the average attendance 68,202. The total number of the teaching staff is 1453.' Five religious Orders for men and ten for women are represented in the archdiocese. The total number of secular priests is 248, regular 46. There are 93 missions, 134 churches, chapels, and stations, and 17 charitable institutions. The number of baptisms in 1913 was 14,425, Confirmations (1913-14), 10,066, children presented at religious examinations, 69,894. The estimated Catholic population of the archdiocese is about 400,000. UNITED STATES A CHALICE WITH A HISTORY. Amongst , the gifts received by Bishop Shahan, Rector of the Catholic University of America, on the occasion of his consecration, was a silver chalice from priestly relatives in England. It was first used by Bishop Shahan’s great-granduncle, Father Thady Shahan, in 1810. Father Thady Shahan used the chalice for fifty years and then gave it to his nephew, the Rev. Cornelius Shahan, on the day of his ordination. The Right Rev. Bishop Cornelius Shahan used it for sixty years and used it in celebrating his first Mass as a bishop.