The Catholic World

New Zealand Tablet, 22 July 1915, Page 55

The Catholic World

y ENOLAND ~. THE LATE FATHER MATURIN. A Solemn Requiem Mass for the repose of the soul of the late Father Basil Maturin, who lost his life in the Lusitania, was celebrated at Westminister Cathedral on May 21, in the presence of Cardinal Bourne and many clergy. Father Dobson, S.J., a personal friend of the deceased, was the celebrant. The remains of the dead priest, enclosed in a massive shell, lay on a catafalque in front of the sanctuary. At the close of the Mass the Cardinal gave the last Absolution, after which the coffin was removed to Brompton Cemetery, where the interment took place. GENEROUS CATHOLIC BENEFACTOR. Under the will of the late Mr. Charles Allanson, of Harrogate, who died on April 30 last, a very considerable sum of money has been left to Catholic charitable objects. He has left the sum of £2OOO to the Catholic clergy of Leeds, for the tinTe being, to be utilised in the education of a youth manifesting a vocation for the priesthood : £SOO for the redemption of any debt owing in connection with the Church of St. Robert, Harrogate; £250 to the Catholic Deaf and Dumb Institute, Boston Spa; £2OO each to the Little Sisters of.the Poor in Leeds, the Harrogate Infirmary, and the Royal Bath Hospital, and Rawson Convalescent Home, Harrogate ; £IOO each to five, and £SO each to three other charities, which are situate in Yorkshire. After the death of his wife several other charities will benefit considerably, and the ultimate residue of the estate is left to the Bishop of Leeds for the general purposes of the Diocesan Ecclesiastical Education Fund for the education of priests. FRANCE THE WAR AND RELIGION. Our correspondent's statements as to the extent of the religious revival in France since the commencement of hostilities (says the Catholic Timet) are strongly confirmed by those of a special correspondent of the Church Times, who visited that country during Ascensiontide. In the capital and in small villages he visited church after church, and everywhere he found crowded congregations at the services. ' Every church L went into in Paris,' he says, 'I found thronged with worshippers.' One incident he relates which has a peculiarly eloquent significance. On the eve of Ascension Day he was in a library, and told the attendant that he was coming next day to make a reference. ' Do you not know,' was the man's remark, that to-morrow is the great festival of the Ascension? You must come on Friday.' And the comment of the correspondent is ' l do not think that would have happened in a public institution a year or two ago.' The spirit, of the revival has penetrated official circles, and much of the old indifference and antagonism has been replaced by genuine fervor. The clergy have the consolation of seeing that the people have resumed the- practices of religion and that the zeal they have shown is producing good fruit. The selfsacrifice of the priests in the trenches and beside the sick and dying, together with the perils of the conflict, has wrought an astonishing change for the better in France. r i ITALY THE CATHOLIC POSITION. The Catholic position has been defined in a resolution passed by the Azione Cattolica. This association recognises that the universal character of the Church imposes neutrality on the Holy See, but it affirms at the same time that it is the duty of the Catholics of Italy to fight for their country with courage and en-

thusiasm, and declares that they will do so until a victory is gained which will ensure enduring peace. The Holy ; Father, whilst strictly neutral, has ordered that ■all possible measures be taken in the spiritual interests cf the troops and for the ■ car© of the sick ? and wounded. To this end arrangements have been made on an extensive scale. s THE KING AND PREMIER. .{ We are happy here (writes the Rome correspondent of the Irish Catholic) in having Salandra as Premier for, no matter what his politics may be, he is a practising Catholic, and anti-clericals get no quarter at his hands. Trials bring serious reflection, and where God is not obeyed from love and understanding He is served from fear. The riots and murmurs of ' revolution' the past week have had their effect, and, perhaps, also a certain quiet correspondence between the Vatican and Quirinal by bringing minds and persons into contact has also done its work. The King joins his children in the recitation of the Rosary every evening during the month of May, and we have also been told that he frequently assists at Mass during the week, therefore, as usual, we can be thankful for the silver lining to every cloud. " J ROME DIPLOMATIC REPRESENTATIVES LEAVE. The Austrian Ambassadors to the Quirinal and the Vatican, with the staffs of the Embassies, left Rome on May 24 by special train. They were seen off at the station by the Spanish Ambassador to the Vatican. The large crowd which was present maintained a perfectly correct attitude, and there was no disturbance of any kind. German and Austro-Hungarian diplomatic interests have been entrusted to the Spanish. Ambassador. " ;• '•' ■* •■ THE CHRISTIAN MOTHERS' LEAGUE. - Owing to the practical words of the Holy Father and the widely representative character of the audience, the reception given by Benedict XV. on May 16 to the Associations of the Catholic Wives and Mothers of Rome attracted special attention (writes the Rome correspondent of the Catholic Times). No fewer than three thousand female heads of families attended. Seated on the throne, surrounded by. the dignitaries, ecclesiastical and lay, of his Court, and by a number of the Noble Guards, the Holy Father listened to the address read to him by Very Rev. Father Rodriguez, General of the Augustinian Order and Director of the Association of Catholic Wives and Mothers of Rome. Among others present were the members of the Council of the Association, consisting of the Duchess of Bomarzo, president: Princess Lancellotti, vice-president; Princess Odescalchi, Princess Aldobrandini, Princess Barberini, the Marchioness Delia Chiesa, etc. In the course of his remarks, speaking of the lack of correspondence of many men and boys to the zeal shown by their clergy for. their spiritual welfare, his Holiness said: "' Only the Christian wife and mother can make up for this regrettable ob--stacle to the sacerdotal ministry. The tenderness of the wife and the solicitude of the mother can be a more efficacious apostolate than that which the priest can exercise, it may be, because the wife and the mother are able to seize the favorable opportunity, or because, in spite of repulses met at first, they can make fresh attempts, or, above all, because to the wife and the mother the door of the heart is never closed. To this persuasion must be attributed the first Sodality of Christian Mothers founded at Paris sixty-five years ago. A similar sentiment inspired the erection of that of Rome in 1863, and nothing else maintains it today in its flourishing condition.' |