MISSION WORK ON THE DARK CONTINENT.

New Zealand Tablet, 22 May 1919, Page 35

MISSION WORK ON THE DARK CONTINENT.

The January meeting of the Academia of. St. John's Seminary was held on ;T the > evening of the 29th, with President James Grimes in the chair (says the Boston Pilot).* i After a short 3 business meeting the remainder, of the session was* taken up with a very interesting on "The White Fathers," and an illustrated lecture on Abyssinia." ; {U<o ™'; A ;UiM9g^ The r essayist, Mr - Daniel \ Donovan, outlined : the foundation and ; work of the White Fathers, This;wonderful'! society was founded : in 1867 by Cardinal I<aV;igerie. The ■ scene, of their first labors was Northern Africa: Algiers was the focal-point of their ' efforts', 1 and here many Islamites '-■ were ; persuaded 'to exchange ih& Crescent for the Cross: There gallant soldiers of Christ gradually pushed southward until' they had " : reached the outskirts of the burning Sahara. •-- > : j ''■*""■ SP.^^H' Mysterious City of Soudan. "-."><"■""«« Their great goal in Northern Africa, however, was* Timbuctoo, the mysterious city of Soudan. -, H To reach it meant a journey of 1200 miles across the Great Desert.-; The first two attempts resulted in the martyrdom of six : zealous priests, and it was not until the French victory in 1894 that permanent results, were attained in the. Soudan. From that time the work has met with amazing success, so that to-day the Vicariate of Soudanv presents the fairest Christian garden in the upper -half > of the continent. ~..,. . ..,. -,, : ,.j f,<-,: n ; VO Meanwhile, Equatorial Africa was not being over* looked. The White Fathers pushed into this perilous? country, and so untiring was their energy that, where 40 years ago a cross had never been seen, five splendidvicariates flourish to-day—a monument to the unquenchable spirit of these workers in Christ's vineyard. rf.j -*,-,---- Uganda Missions. v .rqr.; Uganda also came under the influence of these tireless missionaries; and almost overnight 160,000 of its inhabitants have found in the shadow of the Cross that peace which Heaven alone can give. ! ' H - Such is the work of the White Fathers. h They s havd' grown from a nucleus of three' seminaries to a community of 500 priests and 250 Brothers.' : Over a ; iquari ter of a million neophytes have been guided by them to the crib of Bethlehem, and 136,000 catechumens r are annually instructed for Baptism. Eighty-three thousand children are being taught the true wisdom of'God and! man in 3000 schools. The sick, the orphans, the aged, and the lepers are receiving Christian comforts in 300* charitable institutions.' ' :,; ' : i

“Abyssinia."

The lecturer, Mr. George Casey, delivered an, illustrated travelogue on “Abyssinia.” With the aid of many slides, he vividly portrayed the conditions ,in which? the. people of this wild country live. The. domestic and religious customs of the Abyssinians were shown-to : good advantage. The labors of Father Bateman, a zealous missionary, were shown in their humorous and -serious side, to the great enjoyment and edification of- the audience. . . , ~-U f iy After the lecture, Rev. Joseph F. McGlinchey, D-D., Spiritual Director of the Academia, entertained the members by recounting some of the difficulties missionaries in Africa have to overcome. , -