Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit FRIDAY, JANUARY 4, 1935. ARCHBISHOP REDWOOD.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 55, Issue 71, 4 January 1935, Page 4

Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit FRIDAY, JANUARY 4, 1935. ARCHBISHOP REDWOOD.

The passing of Archbishop Redwood will be the subject of sincere sympathetic regret in all classes and among all creeds, for throughout his long life the deceased prelate was actuated by lofty ideals and steadfast purpose to a degree that won him general respect and esteem. Having attained over sixty years of his pastorate, the Archbishop was, in point of duration of episcopate, the senior bishop of the Catholic Church. He was, in a very literal sense, the "Grand Old Man" of the Catholic world. He was the last of 1300 archbishops and bishops who were the leaders of the church when he was elevated to episcopal rank. His career was marked by many exceptional distinctions, not the least being the fact that he was the first New Zealand aspirant to the Catholic priesthood. It is of especial interest that Archbishop Redwood's name is inseparably interwoven with the early development, the heroic growth, and the splendid progress of this, the most remote of the Empire's dominions. His personality eminently typified the fearless spirit of optimism and of courageous endeavour that is claimed to be a distinctive feature of the colonial The establishment of Christianity in any primitive country is beset by the natural hardships attendant on religious pioneering work in an undeveloped wilderness, lacking civilised community of living, and possessing no facilities such as roads, or means of communication. The Archbishop's reminiscences of his first years in the bishopric are of roads scarce and rough," of streams seldom bridged, of pioneering pilgrimages into remote corners of New Zealand He may be said to have served in the great tradition of missionary enterprise in this country. In the different, and often greater trials of modern times, he continued to point to the strength that is to be found in a firm faith. In secular achievement Archbishop Redwood had a fine record Ihrough his long episcopate he could not fail, to exert a powerful influence upon the life and development of the country, and it is the highest tribute to his work to say that that influence was always for the uplift of the people and the well-being of the community. -