Commonwealth Notes

New Zealand Tablet, Volume LII, Issue 6, 11 February 1925, Page 43

Commonwealth Notes

s NEW SOUTH 1 WALES. ’ v - vibe Government . Statistician has issued a -Report showing 1 ' that ' the /population -of* Sydney and suburbs reached 1,000,000 towards the close,of last, year. .The .estimated population on December 31 was 1,008,500. The Rev. Cyril B. Callaghan was appointed recently to the position of Catholic chaplain for the;Australian Navy. 'He was; ordained from St. Patrick's College, Manly, for the archdiocese of Sydney, and recently has been stationed at Gos lord. Row Brother Hickey has been appointed Provincial of the Christian Brothers in Australasia, in succession to Rev. Brother Barron. ; Brother Barron remains a member of the Council, and will continue to reside at Mount St. Mary, - Strath field. >. At last the Christian Brothers have been established at Young, in . which district their advent has for long been anticipated. Three Brothers are resident there, and are led by the Rev. Brother KenirVj who has had charge successively of five colleges in the Commonwealth uuung the past 15 years- -at Goulburn, Rockhampton, Wa.vo.-ioy, N irr.h Melbourne, and Ballarat, -respectively..’ Prior to. his appointment to Young, Brother Keniry was for six years in charge of the college conducted by his Order in Ballarat. Rev. Brothers Molloy and O’Doherty, who will be remembered affectionately as teachers ■ who were responsible for many educational successes at Waverley, are with him. The Rev Brother Provincial has given to Young some ! of the > best of his Order, and the ’ school should flourish. —- “Love will find a way',” it hath boon said, and (hose words (says a writer in the Catholic. Press) rang in. my ears as I watched the crowd of deaf mutes, ex-pupils of the Institute at Waratah, gathering eagerly round their old teachers at Santa' Sabina, Strati field, on a. recent Sunday. It would seem that deafness would impose a bar to conversation, hut hero were men and women lor whom a way .had been found,. and it was a treat to see the eager greetings, the happy converse, and the discussion of items, grave and gay. Mother Mary Columba’s loved form was missing, but members of the Waratah staff, including the Directress, Sister Mary Martina, were present, to greet their friends and pupils, and the influence of the dear departed seemed to reign over this latest of the .social gatherings which her love had years ago inaugurated. The eldest living ex-pupil of the institute, Mr. Eddy Rice, was well to the fore, and groups of friends down to Those who left Waratah only last year, joined in tennis matches and other amusements. After refreshments had been distributed the Rev. Father P. Kerwick, P.P., gave a short, earnest sermon which was interpreted by the Sisters. The deaf mutes should resolve, he said, to avoid sin, and to live up to the lessons taught them at y They should pray Tor the repose of /*■. > the soul of the good Mother Mary Columba, who had done so much, for them, and her spirit would rejoice to see them striving to - be faithful until death. f; Each of those pre-

sent received Father Kerwick a medal blessed by the Pope, and from the nuns some little book ■ or other memento of the occasion. After Benediction of the Blessed ... Sacrament in the convent chapel, the happy throng dispersed with The resolution to come again next time, and to bring even larger numbers. Some time ago three young Australian priests of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, Kensington, left their native land to spend their lives in carrying the light of the Divine Gospel among the natives. Rev. Father- M. ■ McEncroe went to Papua, Rev. Father Madigan to.Rabaul, and Rev, Father .1. Long to the Northern Territory. They are carrying on their great work with much '• success. News 7 was recently , received concerning the labors of Father Long at Fort Dundas, Melville 1 Island, 90 miles from Dar- - win. , ... . Vt ....

•' VICTORIA. , ■ Rev. Dr. Gearon, 0.C.C., of Port Melbourne, left that city on a recent Sunday ’by the Blue Funnel liner Ancliises for London Bn route to Dublin, where he is to take on appointment on the professorial staff of the Carmelite College. Dr. Gearon is an Australian, and has written many works on theological subjects. The diocese of Gippsland seems to be especially blessed in its religious leaders of the various denominations, who have recently given a fine example of broadminded Christian charity by their sympathy with the priests and people of the Stile Diocese on the death of their beloved Bishop, Dr. Phelan, gracefully expressed in the following letter to Rev. Father Callanan, Administrator, by the Anglican Bishop of Gippsland (Dr. Cranswick) : —-“It is with true regret that I have heard of the death of your late Bishop, and I. write at once to ask you to convey to the clergy and laity of the diocese of Sale the earnest and heartfelt sympathy of myself, the clergy, and laity of the Diocese of Gippsland. Together with yourselves, we thank God for the good works for which Bishop Phelan will always be remembered, and not least for the high, example in forth., tude and courage which lie left to all Christian people in his long and painful illness.’’ From the representatives of the 'Presbyterian Church, the following was received “Rev. Sir, —On behalf of the Presbyterian congregation of Sale, I desire to extend to you their sympathy on the demise ,of your Bishop. One cannot hut admire his devotion to duty, even under the shadow of approach-; ing death, and to one so full of energy that shadow must have been a dark one indeed.” His Grace the Archbishop of Melbourne, the Most Rev. Dr. Mannix, was present at a Communion breakfast at North Brunswick the other Sunday. Then men of the parish received Holy Communion at the eight o’clock Mass, which was celebrated by the Rev. J. P. O Connell, P .P . Pastor and people showed their sympathy with' his Grace the ‘ Archbishop in the death of his mother by offering

the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and their general Communion for the repose of the soul of Mrs. Mannix. At the Communion breakfast, Father O’Connell condoled with his Grace, and the men stood for several moments in silence.

QUEENSLAND. Catholicity in Brisbane proceeds apace. Church, presbytery, convent, and school buddings show no abatement in this flourishing Archdiocese. The 'other Sunday afternoon, in Rev. ' Father J. O’Leary’s parish, the foundation of a new church was laid by his Grace Archbishop Duhig, in the presence of a , largo gathering. In the course of an eloquent address, his Grace said:— “'The laying of the foundation of . the beautiful church that is to crown this site is, I trust, the first of a series of like functions, that in the matter of church buildings will keep South Brisbane abreast of the times. We are looking forward to the erection of handsome churches at Ipswich Road and Bulimba, to the completion of St. Mary’s Church in Peel-Street, and to the building of a chapel of handsome design as an adjunct to tho Mater Misericordiae Hospital. Wo who live m North Brisbane must realise, when we come over hero, that all the city’s advancement is not on our side. Some of the finest schools are here, and tho situations of our own buildings, such as St. Lawrence’s College, the Mater Hospital, St. Ita’s School, the Coorparop, and Lourdes Hill Convents, constitute some of the noblest sites occupied by any institutions, State or religious, in Queensland.;; t . -• v • . "

• SOUTH AUSTRALIA. The annual Retreat for the clergy of the Archdiocese of Adelaide was held at the Sacred Heart College, Somerton. The Retreat was conducted by Very Rev. Father Powell, 0.P., Provincial of the Dominicans. Rev. Father McEvoy, 0.P., who has been recently stationed in East Camberwell (Victoria), has returned to the Dominican Priory, North Adelaide. - Two new Dominican priests (Rev. Fathers; O’Doherty and Curran), who arrived Iby a recent mail steamer, are also staying at the Priory at present. Father O’Doherty’s family resides in North Adelaide. —— :<X* .

■ No one showed me what I ought to' do, but the Most High Himself revealed to mo that I ought to live conformably to His Holy Gospel. —St. Francis of Assisi.