EXEMPTION OF PRIESTS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVII, Issue 17530, 13 July 1917, Page 2

EXEMPTION OF PRIESTS.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir, —Having, in your issue of to-day, given prominence to the utterances of Bishop Btodie upon the subject of exemptions, it is only'fair to record that his plea has been duly noted by youn leaders. In the report of his speech tho Bishop is credited with having said " he wanted to show that Catholics' hid not been backward in joining with then fellow-citizens in the defence of the Empire." ' No one for a moment douots the loyalty and patriotism of the Catholics of New Zealand, but why are the priests so anxious to set a shocking example fiy upholding the appeal? Why should Bishop Brodie, or any other man, seek to console his conscience by quoting the number of Catholics, or members of any other religous body, who are already fighting for his defence and libertyP Surely it would be moio honourable to avenge the butchering o p Cavell than to point to the ridge of Messines and say, " See, yonder my brother sheds his blood for me. ' When the farmer has been captured at • lie plough, and the artisan at the bayonet s point stands ramrod-like to attention, surely they will find comfort in the knowledge that they have all been counted V the bishop. And perhaps later, when crouching in that European inferno, planned by a Kaiser who claims God as his ally, they will think of their dear ones, and endeavour, ll possible, to cultivate a tender regard for a small contingent of able-bodied priests left behind.—l am, etc., July 11. OLIVER HUNTER.