BISHOP LISTON.

Auckland Star, Volume LIII, Issue 82, 6 April 1922, Page 4

BISHOP LISTON.

'LETTER TO PRIME MINISTER. r| \ AFFIRMS LOTAITY TO KING. PATRIOTISM A SOLEMX DUTY. SUPPORTS IRISH TREATY. ■ The following letter" has been addressed to the Prime Minister by the Rt. Rev. Dr. Liston, Coadjutor Roman ■ Catholic Bishop' of Auckland: — i "Sir, —I feel that I owe a duty »,o my fellow-countrymen to make a statement at the present moment regarding my recent speech, and it seems to mc that the most fitting way to approach them is through you, sir, the head of the Government in New Zealand. J "I have'been described as "disloyal, , •'a disturber of the peace,' etc. Those ! who know mc set down that description of mc as incredible, and for my own part I cannot accept it for one minute, for I yield place to no one in love for this beautiful country, Xew Zealand, in ; which I was born, and my loyalty to i the King. In so far as any reported remarks of mine should have led those who do not know mc to think otherwise ;of mc, I quite frankly regret my share lin the misunderstanding, and I trust ■ that when the people of New Zealand, ■and especially Auckland, come to know Jme better, they too will think of rae las my friends do. I "If I touch upon two points, sir, T think that the attitude of the Catholic people in Xew Zealand, as well as of myself, .towards the institutions of the i country will be better understood. I ''First. The Catholic Church lays on

her children a solemn obligation to love their home and to honour their parents Like to that is the command she gives to them to love their country and to honour their king. To no one, be he priest or layman. does she leave this a matter of free thought or free choice. Patriotism is not a mere opinion which a man may h*old to-day and discard to-morrow;'it is a duty, and a solemn

"I speak in that matter as a citizen of New Zealand, no lees than a Catholic bishop. The Church i= the mother of my faith in things eternal: New Zealand is my country, the protectress of my liberty and of my fortunes on earth. I could not utter one syllable that would belie either my Church or my country, and when T assert, as I now solemnly do, that the teachings of the 'Church are in thorough harmony with the interests of my country. New Zealand, I know in the depths of my soul that 1 speak the truth. "That Catholics in New. Zealand have carried out this obligation of loving their country, their**generous part in her children's toil and sacrifice is honourable proof. During the pa«t SO years their work of hand and brain, their sweat and blood, have played no mean or grudging part in the building up of this fair yountr land. . "Loyalty, however,-does not preclude mc or anyone else from striving for the betterment of any part of the Empire, and, in this resgort. I find myself in the distinguished company of His Majesty' the King, Mr. Lloyd George, Mr. Asrtuith, General Smut.-, the Anglican bishops, the Nonconformist leaders, and the greater number of the representative newspapers of the Empire in calling for a qhange in the hitherto bitter relations between England and Ireland. I rejoice that much has been done in that direction, and I pray that in a short time the promise which more recent events have borne will mature into a perfect and a lasting friendship between the two countries.

"This brings mc, Sir, to my second point. T dwelt on tliie point in ir-r speech, and intended it to give, and it Teally did give the key to that speech, but it has been almost completely overlooked in all the subsequent criticism of myself. What I eaid, and what I ear new, with all sincerity is this: In spite of the all too unhappy past. Irish people at home and abroad and their sympathisers are both willing and eager to hold out the hand of friendship. The very first to strike this note were the Bishops of Ireland to a man and the one amongst them who was often denounced as the out-and-out extremist, has hailed the Treaty, which binds his country to the Empire, as the'verv "ift of God.

"'With his views I am in lieartv agreement. The most noteworthy of the Australian Bishops have froclaimed—and I re-echo their sentiments from my heart —that there is imperative need of reconciliation- and friendship between hitherto conflicting classes and countries. Like ourselves, Ireland has now her future in her own hands. It wowd be idle to deny the e-xistence of difficulties but it would also he the act of despair to Ulink that these difficulties cannot be overcome. Ireland's friends desire nothing better than that the obstacles should vanish ac speedily as possible and leave the way open to complete reconciliation net ween >.orth and South, the Free State and England. This will give ~s in the words of the now famous treaty the union, under His Majesty the Kin"<- t ,f Ireland, witn the Commonwealth' of Rations known ac the British Empire. -Uay T conclude by saying that I feel satisfied that my cfcrgV. who. in their ■Joyalty to mc, ha.ye expre.-v.ed their sympathy with mc, will whole-heartedlr agree with the view* I have in this communication.—JAMES M LI.STOX."