GRAIL MOVEMENT

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22976, 2 March 1938, Page 7

GRAIL MOVEMENT

ORIGIN IN HOLLAND AUSTR'ALIAN PROGRESS SOCIAL AND CULTURAL WORK A distinguished visitor to the Catholic Centenary celebrations is ])r. L. van Kersbergen, who, with her companion, Miss Bouwman, has come from Sydney to represent tho Grail Movement. '"iho Grail is a modern youth movement organised in religious, social and cultural ways," said Dr. Kersbergen. "Its object is to help its members to develop to tho full their individual , talents of personality, intellect or artistic gifts, so that, as Catholic women of the younger generation they may use their great opportunities in the modern world, and may by their character and influence permeate all sections of life with a fervent spirit of Christianity and a renewal of our Christian culture, thus taking a share as individuals and as a united group in the great task of spreading God's Kingdom on earth.

"The movement originated in Holland in 1929, and spread from there to England, Scotland and Germany," continued Dr. van Kersbergen. "In 1932 200 Dutch Grail members went to the Eucharistic Congress in Dublin, where some Australian bishops mot them, and realising the potentialities that lay in a modern youth movement among girls, the Grail was invited to start work in Australia. Thus, the Grail leaders help as far as they can in all forms of Apostolic activity among Catholic girls, and when they come to a new country they are anxions, not so much to introduce a new movement, as to assist in developing and directing the young women's movements that already exist. "In the Grail movement is a small nucleus of chief-leaders, or Leaders of ■the Grail, who have dedicated their whole life to this work," said Dr. van Kersbergen. "The movement has its headquarters in Sydney, which is used as a training centre for the leaders. In January, 1935, an eight-day training course was attended by representatives from the different dioceses in Australia and New Zealand, and so the first contact was made between the Grail and the splendid young women of New Zealand. '