NEW CATHOLIC SCHOOL, PAHIATUA

New Zealand Tablet, 29 May 1919, Page 33

NEW CATHOLIC SCHOOL, PAHIATUA

; Ihe,.peiemouial j|. opening Jof , the newly erected Ihe ceremonial opening of the newly erected Catholic school at .Pahiatua took place recently in the presence of a large gathering?l’-' Mr. 11. McSherry, as chairman of the school committee, in Introducing on the occasion- Archbishop O’Shea 1 to - the assembly, expressed appreciation of the presence of his ; Grace that day and also, of Monsignor McKenna and Father Kimbell. Mr. : McSherry explained that the new school building was designed and built as a memorial to Dean McKenna b and a tribute to his 25 years of faithful service amongst them.. ; When the' erection of the building was firstT contemplated (said the speaker) there was some hesitation on the part of the committee about commencing the work, owing to the wax .and the difficulty anticipated in obtaining the necessary, material for the successful carrying out of the work. As the tender , for the work received‘was prohibitive, it was decided to employ day labor, and largely owing’ to the services of their architect, Mr. d ‘ -P' Wilson, the erection of‘the building had been carried out for £6OO or £7OO lower than the tender lor the contract. That alone was a matter for congratulation. They were (said Mr. McSherry) indebted very much to Mr, Wilson, for he had relieved the responsibility of the committee very much and had himself supervised the delivery of the material and Jiad been responsible for the whole work. They were all deeply .grateful to him for his excellent services. Another’satisfactory feature of the school (said Mr. llcSherry) was that - they would have enough money to pay for the building, so that when the children went to tne school it would be free of debt. (Hear, hear.) Ihat, was cause for congratulation to the Catholics of tvtV V WU ! I 11,e exception of .£l2O from the McCarthy trust the whole of the money had been subscribed by the . Catholic people themselves. (Hear hear.) Mr. McSherry concluded by expressing appreciation ,o t e presence of his Grace on such an auspicious occasion. ' , - • His Grace Archbishop O’Shea expressed his «reat pleasure m being present to bless and dedicate the school which, under the able direction and guidance .of then pastor, Dean. McKenna, they had so generic ly erected. That was another evidence of the intinn S n^ ll P r °r P In I V °i te district and the determination of the Catholic body of New Zealand to support tblhrf H 1 1; ? atl , lohc education - I t was too, a tribute to the faithful labors of Dean McKenna for so many yeais that their noble building had been erected, and that day ded 38 & Cat P rivile e to be present there Right Rev. Mgr. McKenna, in expressing his pleasure at being present to take part in the proceedgSlV^n t lol T th i at ifc Was 32 years' since he came to the district, and when he recalled these days and realised the progress made by the Church, they deserved every congratulation. In this connection he thlclf£ M h % g °n d W ° r i k ° f Father Halpin, and to in t.hn!! slrS'5 IrS ' Sm f ey ’ Whose hos P ital ßy to the priest imthose days could never be forgotten. Then as the work proceeded the presbytery* was built by the generosity of the parishioners of the district in the same manner as the school now erected had been built There was also, the; convent with the ; Sisters as teachers in their school to impart religious - education. These events were a sign of progress, and. the ..present school was indeed a credit to the district. It was (said the speaker) a noble , building, and he warmly congratulated the people on their achievement, Very ■ Rev Dean/-McKenna then addressed the gathering and expressed his pride at having such a school, where : secular . and religious knowledge - could be imparted. He congratulated the people of Pahiatua, who had assisted so generously towards the erection of the school, which' would prove a blessing to the children who would be educated there. Com-

meriting "on the statement ‘ made by Mr. ’ McSherry that all the money had been contributed by Catholics, he mentioned that a sale of work had been held! towards which ' both ? Catholics and non-Catholics had •contributed. That had realised £2OO, and he thanked both. No appeal had i been made to non-Catholics in connection with the erection of the building but the help rendered by the non-Catholics and-the kindness extended to him during the past 25 years he would neYei- . forget. They also owed a debt of gratitude to Mi J. D Wilson for his continued watchfulness during the whole erection of the building. Address by Archbishop O’Shea. Addressing the great gathering (says the Pahtatiia Herald) his Grace Archbishop O’Shea said the position taken up by the Catholic Church with regard to education had been put before the public on many occasions, but it was so consistently ignored by polb thatAt nhtht K Catl °iw istS and 80 °^ teU “Represented on Vu might be well for him once more to set * forth °n an occasion such as this The rLi r -v held that the child belonged to God hPthe fir P, 1 "' 0 * 1 rs w„ri u d se itii? in. relation to flip pV.ii/'i i orate. The parent had theright T*? ° fter : the Parent. r ,dU -‘ legally’interfere neglected his dut? ' rl S V°f asion 1 s when the parent in the work of education b^buiS^ F ! and universities but iu / ounamg schools, colleges, account the w she o \ the ™ T b ° Ul , ld to take into education that watte i • parents as to the kind of institutions and where the q t the , clllldren in th ° S 6; it*did in New Zealand—* f M asked Catholics—as "o ss ar**r on the education of the ehildren in thL School‘“That tne parents conscientiously asked for (l*«r hlar t leZ *" “ lly JUS ‘- a eeotding to reason in^con^

ssHSba-** 5 * Hn „ tl , 0,000 P e r annum towards the educahe „l the r? > and a, the Catholics could not use ex-fe t , S °' S a “ d 00,Ie S es for their own children tr y S .S; TfSKtSTST* “ certain c ° u “ : by Catholic parent^ ether people children. In addition to this they fas Cdthoncs) had to educate their children in thei/own i voluntary schools, and thus they saved the State nrn ■ bably another £IOO,OOO a year. y That meant ttt'the nou-Catholic parents of Die Dominion were having ieu children much more cheaply educated at the ex? pease of the Catholic body. "Is this fair? Is it hist?” asked the Archbishop. « it just * was not Catholic den^ and with regard to education' ys not so unreasonable as some people would havethem (I C. (continued the speaker). “We, as Cath by o the' 1 Cath o 1 the money contributed to education by the Catholic parents should be spent by the Stateon the education of the Catholic children. AVe do not! 01 Catholic children, much less to be spent on that trammg of their children in their holy religion They.' did think r that when the State, .as in this® com.tr/: asked the Catholic 8 body to contribute a certain amount °* money f hat the State ought to spend that money on" the education of the Catholic children according .to l 'vi P arents Wh o ontributedlthe. money. , It .had been said that in maintaining- their own system of Catholic schools they were not prSrltP and were not serving the best interests of their conn-’ On the'.contrary (continued the Archbishop), the duty of . the; Church makes it incumbent upon thb& to promote the advancement of their country. ® what foundation did the welfare ■of any country

pehd that ■ would conduce more to the happiness and welfare of the people ? y Certainly it was not " material wealth, , or material efficiency. . The ‘ recent war , had proved this 'quite onclusively. The country has. in conflict for four and a-half years) with 'a . people who* were' materially highly organised—perhaps the . .most efficiently organised of any nationand , we as fa' people declared —and h rightly ‘ so—that such materialistic ideals could ■’ never i hope to succeed, nor did that, .nation succeed, and' Germany was defeated. Then after the war ' came ‘ the question of reconstruction, and . they heard all over the land that .the j war was won by “efficiency.” That .word had been dinned in their ears morning, noon, and . night. What kind of efficiency? Was it spiritual efficiency that would make them ’ more godly, or better men and women, more honorable and more ' honest, more happy and more contented? No. ; Was not efficiency aimed at that which would give them a greater share in the world’s goods so as to live in more comfort, something that would enable the nation to make more money, and to equip themselves better in the great struggle for the markets of the world It was something purely materialistic but something which would not contribute to any, human happiness in this world or the next. ; f ' And to help our education system (said the Archbishop) they had an Efficiency Board who took all the evidence available on the materialistic and economic lines. No evidence was required about the spiritual or religious aspect of the question. No nation could succeed if it was conducted on only materialistic lines. They must not' forget that man was lord of creation, and that everything in this world —the resources of the earth and its products, the machinery of motion and all the institutions —both social and religious—were all meant for all the needs and happiness of man both here and hereafter. By keeping the highest truths in view as exemplified by the Master, would they be able to form a right judgment of what constituted true 1 education ? Quoting a modern educationalist who said “a moral and mental education could not be imparted without religion, his Grace said that the Church is right in her method of education, for it was the only system that would bring men nearer to Almighty God. It was the only system that would make them morally, physically, and spiritually stronger and conduce to their future happiness. The Avar had taught them too that only by building on a spiritual foundation could any nation build with security. His Grace then paid a high tribute to the devoted labors of Dean McKenna, not only in connection with their church there, but to his influence throughout the Wairarapa. He congratulated them upon the splendid result, and in passing eulogised the work of the teachers, the Sisters of St. Brigid, who were ladies of education, and whose influence among the people and : the : children was so good. Concluding, his Grace assured them all of his great pleasure in taking part in the opening of that school which meant so much for the Church and for this fair Dominion, which they

all loved so well. (Applause.) :h> A specially made and handsomely designed key was then handed to Archbishop O’Shea, who in the presence of the vast assembly formally declared the building open. The proceedings then terminated, the company • taking the opportunity of inspecting the new schoolrooms, which are ; not only a credit to the district, but were designed and built with a proper regard for the health and happiness of the children, due regard being given to light arid : ventilation, a not unimportant item in the education of the child of to-day. By invitation, the company were entertained by the Sisters to tea on the verandah of the convent, and a number of people availed themselves' of their hospitality, which: was much appreciated. In continuance of the official opening of the ,new Catholic school, a concert,was, held in that building on the following , evening, when there was a large attendance of parents and friends. The company , also included Archbishop O’Shea, Monsignor McKenna, Father Kimbell, Dean McKenna, together with Mr.

i'n : r ’ COJXiOD, JiiSDOKI XL -JSOJ VIUSXOOnRe and , Mrs. .. Wilson and,. others. -v, An excellent and well- ■■■ l'■><*' ■ -, i: .iAi-cUo li) «ai» jl • CU. 1 ■•!<> <>»»•'- ivi arranged programme .was presented, and the way in which the various items were s rendered by the, scholars and adults reflected creditably on Sister Margaret, in charge of the school, .and 'her staff .of Sisters and teachers, who devote so much care .and attention to the educational equipment of the scholars. This attention was especially noticeable in the training, of. the junior scholars in; their elocutionary deliveries, and also in the rendition of the musical parts; Altogether, the concert was carried, out so successfully that it deserves nothing but the highest praise, .and was listened to by a well-satisfied audience. ’ / "A’- I - •

. During the interval an address . was presented ;to the Archbishop, and was read very nicely.. by Nora Arthur,, a , scholar. It expressed, on behalf., of the church and school, appreciation .of .the. presence'of his Grace at the opening of the ■ school, , and also of his attendance at the concert. Later the Archbishop, in addressing the children, said how pleased he was to be present, and in a kindly way gave them such advice as should be an influence on them for good in after life. A'/‘A; 1 a: V' v