CATHOLIC EMANCIPATION

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22457, 29 June 1936, Page 11

CATHOLIC EMANCIPATION

REMOVAL OF PENAL LAWS AUCKLAND JUDGE'S ADDRESS The gradual removal of the penal laws which formerly operated in Great Britain against Roman Catholics Mas explained by Mr. Justice Callan in an address last night in St. Benedict's Hall to a well-attended meeting of the Holy Name Society.

Referring largely to the Catholic emancipation centenary celebrations, held in London in 1929, the speaker made the point that while important steps were taken in 1829 toward the emancipation of Roman Catholics, the penal laws actually were relaxed gradually over a period—before 1829 and after. However, it was in 1829 that a very important stage was reached, and a Roman Catholic was at last able to become a member of Parliament, although there was an obligation to take an amusingly comprehensive oath. Certain Government offices, nevertheless, were barred to Roman Catholics. Mr. Justice Callan cited as an illustration of the effect of the anti-Catholic penal laws the fact that Roman Catholic marriages were considered invalid by law, a marriage having to be performed the next day by a Church of England clergyman. This, and other obstacles in the path of Catholics, were gradually removed.

The speaker concluded with a lengthy review of a large number of organisations embodied in the Roman Catholic Church, reference being made to the Catholic Evidence Guild, which, he said, had been called the " Catholic Salvation Army." " It is the English at'titude," he added, " that if people are 'cranky' they will do less harm if allowed to talk. In Hyde Park you will find Socialists, Bolsheviks, Communists, bimetallists—and the Catholic Evidence Guild."

While the proportion of Roman Catholics in England was distinctly less than in New Zealand, the Church had progressed enormously in the last 100 years, and had gathered momentum and strength from-it&.progress.