Catholic World

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XLIX, Issue 39, 5 October 1922, Page 39

Catholic World

THE PAPAL MISSION TO STARVING RUSSIA. On July 26 the 11 envoys of the Holy See embarked at the port of Bari for Russia, to distribute among the starving Russian people the relief provided by the Pope. Thus comes about the conclusion of the negotiations between the Vatican and the Soviets, about which so much has been heard, and concerning which so many sensational reports have been circulated. It had been said that a Concordat had been concluded between the Vatican and Moscow; though, as a matter of fact, nothing remotely resembling a Concordat had even been discussed. Last March a certain document was signed,,on the on© hand by the Papal Secretary of State, Cardinal Gasparri, and on the other hand by the Soviet representative, Mr. Vorovsfti. Certain points were discussed at Genoa for determining the conditions in which the messengers of the Holy See could venture into Russia to carry relief. It was decided that they should act purely in a charitable capacity; to have nothing whatever to do with Russian political matters, nor to act in any way as religious propagandists. That as the sole scope of the mission. •<xXxXxX><X> CATHOLIC DOCTORS DENOUNCE BIRTH CONTROL. Without a single dissenting voice, the Catholic medical men who have been meeting in Glasgow in connection with the annual conference of the British Medical Association, passed a,,resolution urging the Government to make it a penal offence to publish or expose for sale birth control literature, and to advertise or expose for sale appliances destined to this end. The crowded meeting at which this resolution was passed was organised by the Catholic Medical Guild of St. Luke, and among those taking part in the speeches was the new Archbishop of Glasgow, who has recently been promoted to the See from the Scots College in Rome. A second resolution, which was passed unanimously by the Catholic medical men, placed on record their hostility to the proposed sterilisation of the unfit (a favorite proposal of advanced prophets of social reform) as being opposed to the fundamental principles of Christianity. During the sessions the Catholic medicos, together with nurses and medical students, attended Solemn Mass in the Glasgow' Cathedral in full academic dress, when the special sermon was preached by Canon Ritchie, who administered the See during the vacancy, ANGLICANS DEMAND “CATHOLIC PRIVILEGES.” A faculty issued in the London Consistorial Court, sitting in St, Paul’s Cathedral, has ordered the wholesale removal of numbers of Catholic ornaments from the Church of St. Magnus the Martyr, at the foot of London Bridge. This foundation is of very great antiquity, and the original church dedicated to the Martyr King of Norway is understood to go back to Danish times. The church was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666, and the present church is one of Wren’s buildings. Situated in the heart of Billingsgate, the church was practically without worshippers, until the recent appointment of a new Rector has really brought back a congregation to the church. But his use of Catholic adjuncts to worship has aroused the ire of the Kensitites, and in the London diocesan court they have secured an order for the removal of such things as the Tabernacle, the Benediction throne, and the Stations of the Cross. But the congregation has taken up the challenge, and in a petition to the Bishop of London has demanded that while such things as gramophone services, evening Communions, and moving picture displays are tolerated in 1 some of the London churches, they should be allowed such “Catholic privileges that make their church a centre for Catholic worship and devotion.” The Rector of this church created considerable sensation earlier in the year by holding a Requiem for the repose of the soul of the late Pope Benedict XV. He managed to fill his church for the occasion, nor did the congregation ‘appear to have assembled for the sake of protesting.

PIUS ELEVENTH AND RUSSIA. ' ; The Apostolic Letter of Pius XI., which has just been published, recalls the touching appeal made about a year ago by the late Pope Benedict XV., on behalf of unhappy Russia, overturned by the most awful catastrophe that has ever befallen that country. Pius XI, relates that, in spite of public and individual financial difficulties, all the nations responded generously to the Pontifical appeal, particularly the citizens of the more prosperous States in America, who distinguished themselves as well by their liberality as by their humanity. The Pope proceeds: “But this assistance has not been, nor could it bo, adequate to the immensity of the need. From day to day We hear afresh of further unspeakable agonies of these innocent victims, among them millions of young children, young lads, women and aged persons, who are condemned beyond all remediation to a most horrible life or a still more terrible death. “With the whole ’ strength of Our soul as Supreme Pastor, with the absolute straining at Our heart as Father, in the name of that mission of universal charity entrusted to Us by God, We raise Our voice anew in pity to beg for help. We recommend it to you, and particularly to you, Venerable Brethren, and through you to all the faithful and all pitying and merciful souls, to come to the assistance of those who suffer agony beyond measure.” The Pope leaves it to the different bishops as to what means they shall employ to secure this much-needed assistance. . After announcing that the Papal contributions to the Russian relief fund is 2|- million lire, the Holy Father imparts to all the Russian people and to all their benefactors the Apostolic Benediction. the BISHOP OF DURHAM AND ANGLO-CATHOLIGS. Bishop Hensley Henson of Durham, who at one time in -his career (says Catholic News Service, London ) was one of the most advanced ritualists in London, but who is now one of the most latitudinarian Anglican prelates that have, graced the episcopal bench since Thomas Cranmer, has fallen foul of the Anglo-Catholics. With the idea of converting England after the Great War, the Anglo-Catholics have been holding a series of congresses this summer with considerable success, at which they have persuaded most of the diocesan bishops to take part; and from an external point of view the bishops have presented a pleasing spectacle in all the glory of their copes and mitres. But religion of this kind is not to the mind of the Liberal prelate who sits in the Chair of St. Cuthbert, and he has sharply declined to lend his countenance to the Anglo-Catholic Congress that has just been held at Preston. Invited to become a vice-president of this particular congress, the Bishop of Durham seized the opportunity to discharge some of the feeling against the High Churchmen that has been simmering in his bosom since he attained to high ecclesiastical promotion. The Bishop appears to think that the Anglo-Catholics are advocating a version of Christ’s religion which it is impossible to harmonise with the . doctrine . and "discipline of the Anglican Church —and he told them so. Indeed, he went further than that, and bluntly told the promoters of the congress that their movement is . neither Catholic nor Anglican, but simply Roman! As far as that goes,-the practices of the Anglo-Cath-olics in no way differ from those observances of which the present Bishop was so stiff-necked a, champion, before his Liberal politics secured for him a canonry at ’Westminster started him on the high road to the episcopate. Meanwhile, the Bishop’s progress from the state of a simple parish clergyman to that of- the occupant of the historic and formerly Catholic See of Durham, is strewed with discarded Catholic observances which Dr. Henson at one time taught as vital to the proper spirit of “Anglo-Cath-olicism.” ,