JOTTINGS.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 13597, 4 December 1909, Page 13

JOTTINGS.

The Rev. Dr. C. B. Perry, who is secretary for the United States of the | f Association for the Promotion of < * the Unity of Christendom, and also of j ' the Anglican and Orthodox Eastern ■ 1 Churches Union, contributes to fho J * "Reunion Magazine" an interesting \ J article on "The Outlook for Reunion in ' * the United States." After mentioning j r the frequent co-operation of Anglican j ) and Roman Catholic bishops in social > i questions, Dr. Perry gives details of in- * ' stances in which Roman Catholic mis- ] ■ eion clergy in the far western States - y have entrusted their people to the. - r charge of Anglican priests for confession > ' and other ministrations in case of emer- ' r gencies during their absence. The : I Bishop of Western Texas recently took F the step of appealing to Pope Pius X to' - > lead in the movement for reunion which 5 I was thus manifesting itself. The rela- j ' tions between the Anglican communion, ■ I in America and the Roman Catholic J » arid Greek Churches are most cordial. f > The most striking instance of this Has , * been the co-operation between Bishop ; s Tunocent, the Russian bishop, and the : * American bbhop in Alaska, where the . > two bishops have shared in the over- - ; sight and ministrations of their out- ] r lying stations —a step towards reunion ] I unprecedented since the great schism • » between East and West in the eleventh { » century. In his sermon at the anniversary of - > the Melbourne Roman Catholic Cathe- * dral celebration, his Grace the Arch- \ bishop of Melbourne touched on -the i 1 restlessness in belief so prevalent in 1 our day, and the folly of those outeide ! the Church in giving - away inch by inch their Teligious beliefs. Let them look I (said his Grace) through the world to-. day and see how the truths of Revela- • \ tion "were abandoned one by one. One i I day it was the inspiration of the Scriptures, and the next the Divinity of ; \ Christ. Another day it was the Resur- - \ rection of Christ, and still another it r was the whole Athanasian Creed. Their . * attitude was like that of the man who, , > 'when he and his family were pursued . , fey wolves, threw one of his children to ' » satisfy them. But the appetite of the ■ wild animals was not satiated., and in ; - the end the whole family was destroy- * * cd. He asked them to give thanks < 3 to God for the unchanging faith of . 5 which the Cathedral was a suitable ■ 5 symbol, and in conclusion referred to ' the moral obligations that bound them ! [ to the Church. ' 5 A Congregational Minister in Toledo, . * Ohio, has adopted the decidedly novel i plan of printing outlines of his ser- ' mons before he preaches them. In a < recent issue of his church wwklv. ' under the heading "Next Sunday," two '. 'skeletons" appeared .-—'Morning Ser , mon: Prayer as an exercise—why pray when God knows —a lesson from the j . camel—prayer and nerve troubles—the ] Protestant rosary—the thrilling story \ of Billy Hicks —'Lord, teach us io . 1 pra\.' Evening Sermon: When does ' 1 a nian win—if yon wrote your own eni- < . tanh the comfort of working—the • t end of the race —death's ?]ef,>at!"' The ] . menn is apparently to proviso a .7i ap- c ' netising which will attract - b hearers. It is eopreivnW e fe nvs the t> I-ondtm "Christian World Mhat some i of them, after the outline, » - mijrht. feel that they had had the ser- ? mon in rv>nrentrat£i form, and be con- J 3 tent with that. Bnt it is not uneom- - 9 mon fo«- lerturArs to draw u D an ontb line fceforehend of their It«tnres for b the helo of their hearers. BW many 3 y sermons lose point because the hear«»r . % at the beginning does not see the ' ] b Th*» proceedings of the Roman Catho--1 lip C-ntrress, onened for the fm,rth time 1 - nt Florence, show (writes a Rome cor- 1 a respondent «f an exchange) how deterb mined ar*> the people of Tnscaoy to as- i b sist the Church in checking an* rooting \

out the evils that are threatening society in Italy. In the words used by the Holy Father, in the letter sent the Congress through Cardinal Merry del Val they are binding themselves with the' Church against tie perils that beset the Faith, morality, and Christian culture of the country. From every point of view this, perhaps the most important Catholic meeting held in Italy for the past year, has been a deckled Miccess. Prelates, deputies, distinguished educationists, and influential social leaders vied with each other in rendering the Congress productive of permanent results, a fact which is all the more remarkable by reason oi the charge frequently brought against Italians that though their meetings are frequent one sees. very little fruit from them. The chiei subjects dealt with were the Press, the sta«e, tho school, female labour, the rights and responsibilities of school teachers the rearing of abandoned children, ami the state of morality in the largo cities ot the Peninsula-, all of which were treated exhaustively by leading ecclesiastics and laymen amid such enthusiasm. It is well to point out in this connection tnat almost every part of Italy had its Catholic Congress this year, for the Catholics are fully alive to the fact that organisation of no ordinary kind is necessary if they wish to combat successfully" the efforts of those "who would piiganis'e the country.