ST. JOSEPH'S CONVENT.

Auckland Star, Volume LII, Issue 72, 28 March 1921, Page 4

ST. JOSEPH'S CONVENT.

REBUILDING FUND. i A MEETING AT THE RUINS. I £3554 DONATED. j I It was stated at, a meeting held on the j grounds formerly occupied by .St. 'Joseph's Convent," which was destroyed iby fire early on Good Friday morning, i that scarcely three minutes after the I sisters had made their escape the floor of their room fell in. | This meeting was held yesterday afternoon to discuss the rebuilding of the I convent, and the attendance was estij mated at 3000 people, among those present being Dr. H. W. Oleary, Roman | Catholic Bishop of Auckland, and the | Coadjutor Bishop. Dr. J. M. Liston. ! I The priest of the parish. Chancellor 'ilolbrook, opened the meeting, saying all should be thankful for the escape of 'the sisters and their pupils. The conclusion was unavoidable that the fire had been caused by foul play, and never be- , fore had the Koman Catholic people | been so united and determined for the benefit of their institutions. As a result of this he had received £1700 towards ' tho rebuilding of th<« convent. At the ; conclusion of the meeting this rebuildI ing fund was advanced to £3554, one 'lady giving- £. r ioo and another £200. i Bishop Clcary followed up a series of facts regarding the fire, and drew the conclusion that it was an incendiary one. • Further investigations were now n@>jceeding, and until they had been com- • jileted he was unwilling to say anything of a definite nature. However he assured the gathering that if a time | came when his duty was to speak, he i j would do so in plain and open terms. j Mr. J. J. O'Brien said the meeting was I representative not only of Roman Cathoj lies, but also a considerable body of ] open-minded non-Catholics, who symipathised with the sisters in their misfortune. Mr. George Foster spoke as a I non-Gatholic, and undertook to attend ■to the furnishing of the new convent I-when built. ' j Bishop Liston made the first address ' .to a public meeting since his arrival in I Auckland, and he was cordially welcomed. He said anything that could be • done for the sisters in this time of their loss was hut small recompense for their I great work in the past. It was a duty of the Koman Catholic community to •nrovide an ample home for the sisters. | The meeting closed with an appeal for ' funds, the response being generous, j STATEMENT BY BISHOP OLEARY. Dr. 11. W. Cleary, (Roman Catholic , Bishop of Auckland, in a statement i made to-day for publication, says: — I "The general public has no adequate idea of the atrocious character of the limits of printed matter which the Governmert found it necessary to suppress during the latter part of the war, but which nevertheless continued in act ye .circulation through the mails and otherwise, and which is now in unrestricted circulation. I have a mass of cU disgusting propaganda matter '.n my possession, and I am prepared to submit it to the inspection of the police, of jour- , nalists, of pnblie officials, and of the • clergy of other faiths. These vile productions make out convents to be placet, | J of phenomenal and wholesale debauchery, of callous murder, and unspeakable shame. It should be needless to ' emphasise the effect which the perusal of '• that vile pr'nted stuff, and of the hearing of similar platform attacks, are calculated to produce on credulous. illbalanced and excitable minds We know the results of such campaigns of calumny in the convent burnings or wreckings that took place in the two Charlestons and Philadelphia in the United Statps, and at various places in Canada, and (not to mention other place-;) in Belfast ami Bortnafcigh in Ireland. It is a signiScnnt circumstance that this incendiary fire at Grey Lynn occurred the night after a meeting which] was a small part of a campaign aga nst convents. It is n-rt improbable that the destnvction of the Grey Lynn convent was accomplished by some one with an ill-balanced mind that was inflamed by the agencies that 1 have already mentioned. It is not at all unlikely that the person who perpetrat 1 tiiat outrage may. after a while, seek to compass the destruction of the other convent* :n and about the city: an.l, as they are mostly of wood, and occupied by many sisters and boarders, there may ensue serious loss of life as well as loss of property. "In view of all the circumstances of the case, I have felt it my duty to direct thp attention of the Minister of Justice to the dangers arising fr<s>m these inflammatory attacks upon the consecrated Mower and glory of our Catholic womanhood, and requesting adequate police protection. In the meantime a large reward is being offered for evidence leading to the conviction of the offender, and arrangements are :n hand to provide guards at night for the various convent-."