BISHOP BRODIE'S INVITATION.

Press, Volume LII, Issue 15746, 13 November 1916, Page 6

BISHOP BRODIE'S INVITATION.

>- PROTESTS BY ANGLICAN CLERGYMEN. Tho form of his Lordship Bishop Brocl.es invitation to his Lordship Bishop Julius to be present with him on the platform, made at tie Roman Catholic Congress, held in the Colosseum on Thursday last, wa R tho subject of a protest by the Rev F X Taylor, vicar of .St. Luke's Church, m a sermon preached by liini yesterdav morning. Controversial topics, said the preacher, were in tiie present time of national crisis lo be deprecated, but it was, nevertheless, nccoesary sometimes to introduce tlieni. souk" notice w demanded by tile unusually aggressive attitude recently assumed |jv the Itoman Catholic Church in Xov 7 ca _ land, culminating in his Lordship Bishop Hrodie s amazing invitation to his Lordship Bishop .hum.-. Nothm<» was more natural tnan chat English and Hoaian Catholics should bi> united iu. the light for denominational schools but the manner in which Bishop Brodie had invited Bishop .Tulius to cooperate in this matter was such a s to make a cordial response impossible Ihe invitation had been issued thus:— "As tho Catholic Bishop of Chri'itehurch, I invito him (hi* Ixirdship Bishop Julius, whom he had just, spoken of as a non-Catholic) to iako the platform with mo on behalf of this mat tor." The audacity „f this wording in referring to his Lordship Bishop Julius as "a non-Catholic" as though to discredit him as a Bishop of the Catholic Church, was only equalled by what was quite as amazing, its tactlessness. Tho rcfereneo to his Lordship Bishop .Julius as a "non-Catholic" was in the opinion of t.he speaker, a positive insult to the Church to which ho belonged.

It appeared to be part of a great push which had been goin c on for a considerable time, and with increased vigour since the war began (perhaps because the Papacy had lost so much

prestige through it« impotence in this great world-crisis). The chief weapon employed in this formidable aggressive movement was the use of the word

"Catholic," reiterated over and over again, in tho newspapers as well a s on the platform, so as to hypnotise tho unwary. In spite of a rcccnt controversy between tho Roman Catholics and ''The Prew.'' it seemed to tho speaker, that the Roman Catholic influence on our papers was very strong, and the Roman Catholic Church was repeatedly referred to in reports and announcements as the "Catholic Church." What was the reason for this insidious campaign? Because tho Catholicity of the English Church was tho greatest bulwark against l'opcry. The term did not apply to Protestantism, with its drift towards agnosticism (as in Germany), but the Church of England "with her strong hold upon the Catholic faith and Catholic orderkeeping her succession unbroken, maintaining her life of grace, as it wa9 maintained from tho earliest- ages, lhe Church of England was Catholic, or it was nothing. The claim of tho Anglican Church to the title "Catholic" was freelv asserted by the theologians, and the Roman Catholic Church was in English countries a schismatic intrusion. The weakness of Anglicnns lay in. their ignoranco of their own position, and their salvation lay in study of. matters appertaining to their religion and ltt . unswerving loyalty to their Church. Preaching at tho Cathedral last evening. Canon Wilford said that he had found it necessary to change the sub' jeet of his sermon because of what i Bishop Brodio had said at the Colosseum on Thursday night. The Church of tho whole Province, said the Canon, had been insulted by the Roman Catholic bishop's description of the Bishop of Christchurch. If the Bishop of the ! Church of England was non-Cathohc, ! as Bishop Brodie had maintained, there ! was nothing in the Church of England worth having. All her members must go elsewhere, and the Church of Ergland would be finished with. The preacher quoted a saying ofcMr Gladstono to the effect that "to destroy tho Church of England would leave tho natiQn a laccratcd and blooding mass." and went on to sketch tho historv of tho word "'Catholic," pointing out that the Church in using it had gone to ordinary, every-day language, and adopted a word in common use. For instance, a "Catholic" statement in the early days meant a "general one. Christians adopted the word for the Divine Society, and called the Church "Catholic because it was spread over tho whole world. That was tlie universal use of the word, but th«e was an exclusive use as well. The word came to bo used as equivalent to "orthodox." For instance, the Bishop of the Catholic Church in Syria was the representative oF tho Apostles in the city as opposed to the leaders or heretical sects. The word was first used in the East, and oven when it found its way to the West it was somo tiirio before the Roman Church made use of it. It was not in the creod of • tho early Roman Church at all. have this anomaly." Canon went on to say. "A branch of the Church which was one of_ the last to accept the word i s now trying to mono, polise it." ~ In conclusion Canon Wilford said the man in the street saw two Bishops." in Christchurch. There was but ° n ° Church, and both Bishops could not bo the lawful paftor. Behind the Bishop of Christchurch was all the long line of English Bisions reaching through toe time of the Reformation up to St. Augustine, and from him to th° Apostles. He was the true Catholic lii«hon of Christchurch. The presence of the Roman Bishop spoke of *h<»e, dnys in the sixteenth century, when Bishop of Rome made tho cruel rupture in the mystical body of Christ, and set up altar against altar.