MILITARY SERVICE

Grey River Argus, 25 August 1917, Page 4

MILITARY SERVICE

THE CLERGY AND CONSCRIPTION,

A ROMAN CATHOLIC MANIFESTO,

WELLINGTON, August 24

The Roman Catholic Bishops have published a manifesto regarding the clergy and conseritpion. They state, inter alia :■ — 1

Our priests, religious bothers, and theoligical students from time immemoial have been fobidden by both ecclesiastical and civil law to take part in warfare. This is still in part the law in England. It needs no argument, to show how incongrous it would be for men who have consecrated their lives to the service of the Prince of Peace to shed the blood of their fellowcreatures, because it is unbecoming to their sacred ' calling, and because it .

outrages Christian feeling and sentiment and because it is contrary to the law of the Church.

We object to the conscription of our clergy, but there is another reason why we oppose the calling up of our priests. These men are the servants of the people. INight and day, it matters not, they are at the beck and .call of the faithful to carry on public worship, to administer the sacraments and to give spiritual consolation to> their flocks. They discharge services that Catholics consider essential to their welfare and happiness, both here- and hereafter, and to be deprived of such ministrations would be looked upon by' our people as the very worst from of hardship.

The theological students, who number about thirty in the Dominion, are the sole reserve from which losses amongst the priesthood are made up. To take our brothers, and, so compel us to close our boys' schools, would be an intolerable act of oppression for we cannot carry on these schools without the brothers. It is true that the State school authorities believed that they could carry' on the State schools efficiently without the services of the male teachers who are in, the First Division, but the position is quite different with us. We contend that the conscription of ,the priests, students, and brothers, would inflict upon the Catholic body hardships that the necessities- of, war do .not justify. Call -it by any name you please, it is, nevertheless equivalent to religious persecution. It is being looked upon as such by our people, and we will adopt towards it the same attitude that we would be compelled to adopt towards anq other form of religious persecution.

We are confident that our legislators in framing the Military Service Act, did not forsee, much less intend, these consequences. We feel sure, moreover, that once the public realise the true state of the case the vast majority of our non-Catholic fellow-citizens who are just and fair-minded will understand our attitude and sympathise with it. They will surely realise that we are not asking for privileges, but for what is of absolute necessity to us as Catholir-s. Come wnat may, as long as the war lasts we are bound in duty to our Catholic boys to keep up our supply chaplains at the front. We have sent away nineteen priests to act in this capacity, and there are fourteen at present on active service with on r sqldiers.. In addition to this one has laid down his life on the battlefield and another was so severely wounded that he may. never again resume duty.

While thoroughly at one with the Government in its efforts to give every assistance to the Empire in this unhappy war, anrl conscious that our Catholic young men are bravely and nobly doing their part in giving this assistance, we .feel that we owe another duty to our country, viz : The duty to preserve its religious institutions, and to provide the children at school with an efficient Christian education. In all confidence we therefore appeal to Parliament and to the fairminded amongst our fellow-citizens, knowing well that their sense of justice and their Christian patriotism will never allow them to be a party to a policy which we regard as religious persecution, and. consequently would feel bound to resist to the end by every constitutional means in our power.