Current Topics

New Zealand Tablet, Volume L, Issue 22, 7 June 1923, Page 18

Current Topics

Germany The Holy See has appointed the Right Reverend Joseph Deitmar Auxiliary Bishop of Breslau, with residence in Berlin. German Catholics rejoice at this new mark of favor of the present Pope who now appoints a resident bishop to the German capitol, German Catholics are making a splendid fight for their full rights of Catholic education. There was a remarkable response to a demand for signatures through northern and southern Germany. In Bavaria alone two and a quarter million names were at once obtained, and accounts from the north represent the campaign as equally live there. The Socialist Vorwaerts cannot conceal its anti-Christian joy at the alleged fact that 18,000 Protestants have left their Church in the Berlin district alone. Rumania Persecution of Catholics .continues unabated in Rumania. Bishop Glattfelder who was compelled to resign by the Bratiano Government, is threatened with persecution for writing a farewell letter to his clergy ! Monsignor Hirschler, of Cul, in Transylvania, was summoned to answer several absurd charges of which the following are a sample: His church, located on territory which was formerly Hungarian, contained a stained glass window with a picture of two angels supporting the arms of Hungary : he had celebrated the Feast of St. Stephen, Patron of Hungary, last August ;• and his parishioners had invoked Our Lady as “patroness of Hungary.” More ridiculous still was the motion for the expulsion from the Rumanian Senate of Bishop Szechenyi who was not a member of that body at all! A girls’ school was attacked because some children wore bonnets of a Hungarian style. Two thousand hymn books were seized because they contained a hymn popular among the Hungarians. Our Mr. Parr would flourish like a green bay tree in such a congenial soil for people given to stupid stunts. Russia Persecution increases in Russia as time goes on. The insane anti-Christian hatred in the breasts of the rulers of Russia has no limits. The following historical note from America will be of interest to our readers: “Under the old regime the nominal head of the Russian so-called Orthodox Church was the Czar, who ruled through the Holy Synod. The head of the Holy Synod itself was the procurator, a layman, and a member of the Government. “After the March Revolution in 1917, in which the Czar was deposed, a Convocation of the Church revived the Patriarchate of Russia. This made the Church independent of the State. Archbishop Tikhon was made the Patriarch, the first since the days of Peter the Great in 1721. The Bolsheviki came into power in the October Revolution in 1917. These men came from abroad and were mostly aliens. According to a publication of the “Unity of Russia,” quoted by the Civil Ur Cattohca, of the 22 who composed the Supreme Council of Commissars in 1920, three were Russians, two were Armenians, and 17 were Jews. Of the 545 members of the executive departments, 30 were Russians, 447 were Jews and 68 of other nationalities. There is no reason for believing that these figures have changed much since 1920. It should be noted that these men arerenegades to their religion, and mostly atheists. Their relations with he Orthodox Church, according to a writer in the Atlantic Monthly for March; 1923, fall into three phases. At first the Bolsheviki proceeded cautiously, as if they were unsure of the* attitude of the people. They began with a violent propaganda against all religion, and for four years concentrated their efforts on the young men. In 1922 the churches were ordered to give up their treasures. Confiscation followed, met by resistance. This was countered by

severe measures; 28 bishops and 1200 priests are said to have been put to death by April, 1922, and many more since then. In the third phase of the persecution the Bolshevists aimed at a division in the Church itself, so that now there are two Russian Churches, the Orthodox Church, an illegal body, and the , Supreme Church Administration, split into many parties. This is the official Red Church. There is said to be a real revival of religion among the people, but the gravest fears are expressed for the Russian youth, who for five years have been exposed to every form of immoral and irreligious teaching. It is forbidden by the Penal Code to teach any religion to anybody under eighteen years of age. This affects Jews, Orthodox, and Catholics alike.” Bible in Schools The Anglican Synod is much concerned about having the Bible read in the schools of New Zealand. It proposes to make strong representations on the point to the Government. From our experience of the same Government we conclude that one has only to make noise enough to make it do anything short of resigning office and losing salaries and perquisites. If the Bible in the schools became the order of the day, what better would the Anglicans be? What would it avail to have a few neutral lessons read to children by people incapable of explaining them ? Are we to suppose that the children would, by private inspiration, derive from the lessons, light and grace to become good Christians for ever after? To suppose' anything of the kind is contrary to all experience. To make the movement worth anything, it ought to be provided that the New Testament be read, and that it be explained by men or women who know a great deal about the truths of Christianity, who believe in these principles, and who want the children to believe in them. And, as unfortunately there is no unity of belief among the different sections of the population, it would be further necessary that the explanation be given to the children of each religious body by a teacher who professes their own faith. In other words, unless we have denominational religious instruction it will be worth nothing. There is no use beating the air. What is wanted is not the Bible in the school but the catechism in the school; and the sooner earnest Christians agree that they will compel the Government to grant to Christians this justice, the sooner this country will recover from its moral paralysis. America’s Deal with the Turk America kept out of European affairs when there was question of political troubles. But now she has come in because there is question of oil and of money to be made therefrom. The Angora Assembly has granted to an American corporation a billion dollar concession which is calculated to provide America with oil and at the R ame time with the opposition of her erstwhile allies among the European powers. Here is the picture the concession inspires in the mind of the Lite rang Digest’s penman: Four hundred million American dollars will be spent to make the waste places of Turkey in Asia blossom as the rose, and her slums turn into garden cities “under the fairy wand of the Chester concession.” Negotiations which have dragged over a period of nearly twenty years came to a climax recently when the Grand National Assembly at Angora, the seat of Government of the Turkish Nationalists, ratified the billion-dollar concession sought by the American interests. This grant empowers the Ottoman-American Development Company to carry out a programme in Anatolia which includes besides the development of what is said to be on© of the richest oil, copper and iron areas of the world, the building of railways, canals, ports, and cities, forestation, the installation of telephones, telegraphs and electric lighting, and the construction of hotels, healthstations, banks and observatories. On© clause in the agreement, according to a Paris correspondent of the New York Herald , calls for “the erection in some open and appropriate spot indicated by the Nationalist Government of a perfect capital, with buildings surpassing

any existing,. notably mosques. From the same source we learn that the concessionaries also promise to "form a Turkish working class and imbue the papulation with a taste for sports and physical exercise.” Moreover, they will "establish in the most humble villages the healthy homes necessary for the amelioration of the race and character.” Some Important Decisions

To a large section of our readers the following information will be valuable and interesting. In the Irish Ecclesiastical Record for April, the liturgical editor deals with two points of special interest to convents. He is asked for a reply to these questions: (1) Is not a convent oratory semi-public according to Can. 1188, §2? Could a nun, for the peace of her conscience, make her confession there to a priest approved by the Ordinary, but who has not got the extraordinary faculties mentioned in Can. 876 ? (2) When carrying the Blessed Sacrament in procession to the sick, if nuns with lighted torches accompany a priest, should they walk behind him? Replies'. 1. (a) Yes, it would seem to be quit© clear from Can. 1188, §2, of the New Code, (b) Yes, in accordance with Can. 522, provided he is a confessor ah Ordinario loci pro mulierihiis appi-obatus, the confession may validly and licitly take place in any church, or oratory, even semi-public. (2) Before replying we deem it advisable to give a brief description of the whole ceremony in. accordance, as far as possible, with the prescriptions of the Roman Ritual. We say advisedly ‘‘as far as possible,” for ordinarily the circumstances do not permit the carrying out of the full Ritual ceremony regulating the liturgical procession of the Blessed Sacrament from "the altar to the sick room. The Ritual prescribes for this procession the use of the umhella and the assistance of clerics or acolytes and torch-bearers, who are to precede the priest, but a decree of the Sacred Congregation, dated , December 11, 1903, distinctly says that the custom of women taking part in the strictly liturgical sense in this procession cannot be tolerated. Now- in this matter nuns are exactly in the same position as other women, so that they are not allowed to hold the umbelln over the priest’s head, nor to ring the bell, nor to carry processional torches before the Blessed Sacrament. In the absence of boys to perform these duties, the bell may be rung by a nun to give warning of the approach of the Blessed Sacrament and, if necessary, she may precede the priest to point out the way, but she must not be a participant in the procession in the strict sense; similarly, one or more nuns may, if necessary, go before the priest to light the way, but if there is no such necessity the proper place for all is after the priest. Preparation -. For this ceremony there ought to he ready the following: — ln the Sacristy: a surplice, .stole (white), humeral veil (white), and burse (white) containing a corporal; On the lowest Altar step, a Benedictionale, or chart containing Prayer of the Blessed Sacrament; Outside the Sanctuary: nuns with lighted torches and bell; In the sick room: a chair or bench on which to leave the humeral veil, a white linen Communion cloth ante pectus in fir mi , a table covered with a white cloth, on which are placed a corporal unfolded, two lighted candles, a vessel with holy water and an aspersory, a finger bowl containing water, and a Ritual properly marked. In convents or hospitals Holy Communion may be given before or after or during Mass in the ordinary way provided that the altar is visible from the sick bed, or, even though the altar is not visible, provided that the voice of the celebrant is audible to the sick person. It is not permitted however to interrupt the Mass for the sake of bringing Holy Communion to the sick, either for the sake of devotion or as the Viaticum in cases where neither one or other of these conditions is fulfilled.

If Holy Communion is given to several in the same room or dormitory, the one Blessing with the ciborium is given at the end to all; if the sick are in separate rooms the full ceremony is repeated in each room.

The Sistine Choir It is the proud boast of the great Roman choir that its origin dates back as far as the fourth century. When Monsignor Casimiri was conducting part of the choir in England some time ago, this claim was received with i tie notice by a press that could not be expected to appreciate all that it meant. The average English journalist is not a man of deep research, aid it were too much to expect hat he should be acquainted with the history of Church music. There is a time-honored tradition that Pope Sylvester established a Singing 3uT!, wTn" 1 ! hls reign, which extended from tut p 025 n A - D - Another venerable tradition says that Pope Gregory the Great founded a school about the year 600 A.D. Of the Pontifical Choir founded by Gregory the Great tere is no doubt that the present Choir is the lineal descendant. Gregory was not the founder of Singing Schools, but belaid the axe of reform to the root of a system which was not edifying and its place he created another which has continued to {Jus day. Hence there is no discrepancy between pie two apparently contradictory traditions. If the toman Choir wants to claim an origin farther back'than 1400 years ago, it is justified in doing so by the existenC of a Smgmg School attached to every See in" the 45# ;./ .“A" 35 °' Shor % fte y’ear 600 the Pontifical Choir was recruited from the orphans of the city, but S 450 or 350 the scho cantorum was identical with the diocesan seminary. This ancient clencaj school was dispossessed by Gregory because he says . It has for a long time been a reprehensible custom, and worthy of note, for the sacred ministry of singers before entering into deacon’s orders, to devote then whole time to the cultivation of their voices, altogether neglecting their office of preaching and of the distribution of alms; and the priests, each cultivating his organ to attain an edifying voice, irritating God, while they please the people with their accents.” In order to reform the abuses he decrees that “deacons shall not sing at all except in 'the recitation of the Gospels in the Masses. From the time of Solomon, the levite, and in Christian times down to St Gregory the deacon was the precentor of the congregation, which (at least down to the Council of Laodicea) had .the right to respond. Later the congregation was excluded from this privilege. Music, on higher and more scientific lines, was introduced, and trained singers, capable of responding to the calls of the new methods and the vaster repertoire, came into being. The monks from an early period, began to systematise the singing’of the offices which they set in . a framework of antiphons calculated to make the psalms appropriate to the office ?, the day. At first, by an antiphon was understood the prelude, the psalm, and the gloria. The singing of offices was common in the East and West by the time •St. Jerome had completed his psaUerium rovianum in the year 384 A.D. To swell the corpus musicale other non-liturgical devotions were introduced, and lastly the celebrant’s part of the Mass was sung. It is evident that at the end of the fourth century the musical repertory of the Church was already vast and impressive. Among the Greeks and Romans the Alexandrian chant lalf song, half speech, or a system of decorated monotones, was encouraged until it became a matter of course. From the Alexandrian developed the Ambrosian, and from the latter the Solesmes Chant, which existed, as there is reason to believe, before the time of Gregory The latter, which became the official Church Chant evolved from the Ambrosian by degrees in the practice of choirs, and has come down to us indehtified with the name of its patron, Gregory the Great. Hence, the pi esenb Roman Choir is as much in continuity with the ancient choirs of the early centuries as the tree is with the plant or the man with the boy. There has been growth without doubt- but it has been organic growth.

Many indulge the fond hope that time will do for them what they themselves neglect to do. But time is no creative or productive force; it does not do anything itself, but affords the active and energetic the opportunity to accomplish things. . ' ■•••;