EUCHARISTIC CONGRESS

Evening Star, Issue 19764, 14 January 1928, Page 4

EUCHARISTIC CONGRESS

GREAT RELIGIOUS EVENT PREPARATIONS IN SYDNEY ' The Work! Eucharistic Congress, to bo held by the Roman Catholic Church in Sydney next September will be one of the most important religious events of the present year. Some particulars of the arrangements are published in the ‘Sunday Times.’ ; Cardinals constitute the Senate of the Roman Catholic Church, and, because of that fact, the prolonged absence of cardinals resident in Rome is impracticable. But the cardinals of America, Europe, and England will find it more convenient to make the journey to Australia assuming their jurisdiction is adequately provided for in their respective dioceses. In that event it is hoped that tho following cardinals will attend the congress:— Cardinals Hayes (New York), O’Connoil (Boston), Mundelein (Chicago), Charost (Rennes), Faulhaber (Germany), Merry del Val (an English cardinal resident at Rome, and who was Papal Secretary of State to the late Pope Pius X), Bourne (London), Piffl (Austria), and Dubois (Paris). Each of them will travel with customary pontificial ceremony and full staff. The Congress Committee has sent invitations to the whole Roman Catholic world, and these have extended to the leading members of that church in England, commencing with the Duke of Norfolk and ten or a dozen earls prominent in the Roman Catholic life of England and in the House of Lords. It is also anticipated that the British Government will officially appoint an envoy to the congress to travel with the shiploads of English pilgrims who will accompany Cardinal Bourne on one or two liners to be utilised for tho trip. It is possible that this envoy will be Sir Odo Russell, British Minister to the Vatican. Invitations have also been issued and tentatively accepted by Sir Phillip Gibbs, G. K. Chesterton, and Hilaire Belloc, each of whom is a Roman Catholic. Mr Chesterton embraced that faith only a few years ago.

VISITORS OF NOBLE BLOOD. France will bo represented by several personages of noble blood, including Count De Yanvillo, permanent secretary of the Eucharistic Congress for the whole world. A prince, and two viscounts will come with the Belgian pilgrims. From Spain will come several marquises and a number of grandees. Prince Chika will lead the Rumanian pilgrimage. Prince Paul Sapeha will accompany the Polish representatives, and not the least picturesque of the visitors will he Mr Lo Pa Hong, a multi-millionaire, and one of the most powerful men of the East. The Right Rev. Monsignor the Prince De Gray, who is a prince of royal blood, will be among ibe Belgians. An interesting personality to arrive with the Italians will he the Rev. Professor Maurice dc la Taille, S.J., of the Gregorian University, Rome. 11ns nmvorsitv is the leading Roman Catholic ecclesiastical institution in the world, and is under tho direct control of the Pope. Constituting one of the most spectacular incidentals of the congress will he the representative or all the Pacific missions of tho church, hrom China will come six Chinese bishops who were consecrated at Rome last year by the Pope. From Japan there will he" one or two Japanese bishops. The congress will last only three days, but a number of functions will follow it.

ORATORS OF MANY TONGUES. The Palace Royal, the Town Hall, St. Mary’s Cathedral, the Australian Hall, and tho Show Ground have all been booked and reserved for the various sessions of tho congress. _ . There will bo two sessions daily m each of the halls and at the completed cathedral, and at each one a celebrated ecclesiastical orator will deliver a discourse’ on the Blessed Eucharist tfid its various aspects, according to Roman Catholic doctrine. A huge high altar and choir at a cost of thousands will be erected in the Show Ground, and at this altar tho Pontifical High Masses will bo celebrated each morning. Only Tie correctly liturgical music of tho church will be rendered by the choir—works by the masters of Gregorian harmony and similar to those rendered at Papal functions at St. Peter’s, Rome. The sessional discourses will be delivered in the language peculiar to the nation concerned. _ For instance, the discourse to be delivered to the Boles, Germans, French, Belgian, ° r Fnglisn will bo spoken in that language. The main religions ccuemonies ol the congress will be the celebration of Bontifical High Masses at the mammoth high altar to be erected in the centre of the Show Ground ring. At the first of these open-air Masses the Papal Legate will officiate in full pontifical ceremonial, and those present will witness tho celebration of Mass with all the impressive solemnity ol a High Mass celebrated in St. Peter’s, Rome. Other cardinals and archbishops will celebrate the other Masses of the congress. The expenses of the Papal Legato and the other cardinals, as well as those of the distinguished English visitors, will he paid by Australians. And to provide, the necessary money all the members of the church arc being asked to do is to purchase a congress badge for r guinea, and this badge admits them to all the privileges of the congress. . . Not the least important event of the concluding functions of the congress will be a dinner to be held at the Palais Roval. To this the Governor-General, all"the State Governors, and members of the Federal and State Governments will be invited. The Papal Legate, Cardinal Cerretti, will be the guest of honor. TRANSPORT AND HOUSING. The transport and housing of the great influx of people which is expected to temporarily swell Sydney’s population and tax its accommodation to the utmost, is the biggest task the congress executive lias to face. But arrangements have practically been completed, although the event is more than eight months off. One estimate of the number of visitors places it as high as 200,000. Bookings have been made in all Ihe hotels, largo and small, in big residential areas, and in home circles. The railway and shipping have requested the committee to advise as many of the visiting delegates as possible" to reach Sydney some weeks before the congress opens, so that the arrangements of the traffic may be facilitated. . . The Roman Catholics ol Australia will defray all the expenses of the congress at Sydney. It is anticipated that ih«?se will amount to over £50,000. Visitors from other countries will pay their own fares, but all their accommodation will be provided free. At the head of the congress, executive are the Right Rev. Monsignor O'Gorman, of Parramatta, and the Rev. Fa ter James Meaney. parish priest of Drmnmoyne. A special building has been erected in the grounds of Sf Marc's Cathedral, and in this the, vast work of congress organisation is being conducted. I