COINTROL OF A SCHOOL.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 311, 25 September 1908, Page 8

COINTROL OF A SCHOOL.

; ARCHBISHOP AND PARISHIONERS,

■v .TROUBLE HUTT.

'' A large : number of-'Roman Catholics residing'in''the Hutt'district are . strongly j opposed to the; contemplated ; removal of ; tho Sisters-of Mercy--from the charge of the local school belonging to their denomination.

...Inquiries made in- several quarters by a Dominion- reporter /show that the Sisters of. Mercy haye".'for'/about twenty years conducted ,v the '''education, 'of' Roman Catholic .children. in., the. Hutt: district. During the 'first few yearsconsiderable difficulties had to •be overcome.''ijAs the" accommodation then available ; was inadequate, the parishioners, who were not very numerous, had to find the: money to build'a "school. In order to raise funds for the upkeep of the institution, a picnic*or social' had been held every year. When it became necessary to enlarge -the school the arrangements worked out very satisfactorily;-so far as the parishioners were concerned. '.Further sacrifices were made \by,, the, Sisters, , who, for instance, did not.insist.upon the payment of arrears due ito them, for their, services. >In this conned-; tiori it'..should,, be explained. that an allowance is.,made,.t& the Sisters every year to .cover ; expenses.;, .About £80 per annum has been .the..amount set: aside for'that purpose in recent'years.: It was-found in -1902 that the' parish .indebted to the Sisters to the extent, . of, £150.., Instead of handing over the ; sum in cash :to the Sisters, the parishioners .'decided- to convey to them a small section, of land, near the school in return for .which the : Sisters agreed to release the parishioners, from their debt. This arrangement was; approved by Archbishop Redwood,'and a document was drawn up to vest the, ]and ; .iri'the Order, and to release the. parishioners, from their debt. About seven years, ago, the parish, was divided, a school being erected at Petone, and two Siste'rt'bave .since,attended there.

Naturally ,theparishionors of the Hutt have become very much attached to the Sisters. About 'a month ago they' were, therefore, astonished to find,that without any reference to them. arrangements had been made;to establish a., new Order in the district,_and to remove .the Sisters of Meroy. It is stated that even, tho parish priest had beeh'Juriaware that any change was going to'be made. - The parishioners held a meeting and. wrote, -.a,', protest, which bore x 179. signatures, to ' tHe ' Archbishop. It' was pointed out in the protest, which was emphatic and at the.same time respectful, that the Sisters of Mercy ha!d always given tho greatest satisfaction,' and that it was the unanimous wish of the parishioners that their services'should'be retained.

In reply the Archbishop stated that justice would bo done iii the matter of tho rights , of the Sisters, but' did not intimate in what way it would, bo effected. His Grace 'did no.t communicate further by letter, ; bnt unexpectedly, appeared at ..the church at the Hutt last Sunday morning. Addressing the congregation on a text beginning with tho words, "Obey your, prelate," ho reproved those' whom ho considered responsible for 'the opposition, to. his authority, and speaking with considerable feeling, added that his mind was made up, and that tho Sisters would be removed. ' .This . decision, is disappointing to many of. the parishioners. They are of opinion that; if they are called upon to make sacrifices to support their schools they .aro entitled to somo consideration in regard ; to. the question as to the teaching staff and .the' control of the fcohool. In regard to -matters of a purely ecclesiastical naturo • they state that g they bow to the authority of*'the Archbishop, but in temporal affairs they claim to havo a right to be heard; even .although, they are .not permitted to determine the filial issue.' > It is understood that the parishioners who met together '.when "the_ protest was signed were'unanimous i.in, thqir view. They have not yet met to consider tho reply given by the Archbishop, but~a meeting will be hold at an early date,, when the matter will be , fully, discussed. .