A PASTOR'S PASSING

NZ Truth, Issue 509, 20 March 1915, Page 3

A PASTOR'S PASSING

Bishop Grimes Goes "Hence" Dies After an Operation (From "Truth's" Christchurch Rep.)

i It' was with regret that we learned of the death of his Lordship Bishop Grimes, of Christchurch, which took place at the jLewlsham Hospital, Sydney, last Monday, after an operation for appendicitis, which was performed on Saturday. The late prelate was born at Bromley, Kent, m February, '42, v and, after fulfilling appointments m -England, Ireland and America, was appointed Bishop of the newly-constituted diocese of Christchurch m 1887. The good work performed by the late Bishop Grimes,' -since his arrival ,iri Christchurch, will stand as an EVERLASTING MONUMENT TO HIS MEMORY In New Zealand. The progress made m church and school matters m the djopese has been remarkable. The number of priests has been doubled; there are now . sixty churches, ten teaching brothers of the Marist Order, six different orders of nuns, with 240 sisters, six high schools; twenty-six- primary schools with an aggregate attendance of over 3000. There is also "the Mount Magdala Home containing 250 inmates, the Home for the Aged and Infirm, which attends to' the wants of ninety physically infirm persons of both sexes and 100 orphans. Altogether, the. church; and scholastic improvements .'.'."''since. 1887 have cost, roughly, £170,000;, The Bishop always took akeen interest m public affairs and identified himself with the interests of Christchurch, Canterbury, Westland, and, m fact', the whole of . the Dominion. He •was. always ready to ;,V ' FEARLESSLY TAKE. HIS PART m what he considered* to be the welfare of the citizens, and/on- more' than- one occasion, his outspokenness 6n certain subjects has been "remarkable, hot only on. account of its clean-cleft wisdom, but also because of its fearless opposition to the cant 'and hypocrisy which have, from time to time, .characterised the publicly-expreased opinions of Par-linment-petitionihg pulpiteers, on con-, tentlous questions., • '.-.. Recently, when a certain religious section of the community were engaged m a bitter fight for National.Prohibition, Bishop Grimes was'; one. : of" the few ecclesiastical personages -who had the courage to come out and talk m opposition to the arguments of the Prohibition party. Interviewed regarding his views on the liqoor question. Bishop Grimes then said: — , * ' , "it has been stated tlmt Cardinal Manning was 'a great aVlA'oc&te of total abstinence, but, Cardinal Manning -did not condemn drink itself as an' evil. Speaking of drink,.. he said: 'Nor is there sin m these things'forHhis*reason. That there can Ue, sin m nothing or nobody who has not will and conscience to knotvM-ight from wrong. Therefore, if this room were full ot barrels of beer and barrels of wine, :in'd puncheons of brandy, there could be no sin m ,theao things themselves: We could -set; fire to them, and .make an end of them. They are not sinners. It is we ournelv.es who" ore the sinners. The men and women who ' abuse Ihese things. VIOLATR THKIR OOXSCIEXI/K by their own free will; they 'are 1 the dinners/ We teach that alcohol' and other poisons .wore good m themselves, because they rwere created for good, •md it would be wrong to say that they ar« evil, . . . r could not say," concluded Bishop Grimes, "that, drink \vns evil in 1 itself," because drink, opium, and similar things are only evil when they ure abused. They Arc good, and .useful and good, when . used under proper direction. The Scriptures do^ stiy thatthe drunkard will not «Htpf heaven, but they don't mention tiio, moderate drinker, and one of the Apostles, himRelf a total abstainer, rulvtqed >v man tc take a drink for hi* health. It is said that the wine, m tho days of v the Scriptures w»h unformented,, but, "■'that is .i gratuitous assertion, ami can be gratuitously denied.- Tho hail thing m drink la. I think, tho adulteration and mixing unri things of Hint eoi-r. I bollevo myself thut iioopk- arc- bettor without strong drink, und,' (hough J have been through fntiny ncverc trials, I have not touched strong drink for many years, and I haye ■ not' fHt the need for it. 1 think that » lot' that ie said about drunkenness m the Dominion is exaggerated, and Is ■ libel on N«w Zealanders, whoso vice, l' think. Is not Intoxication." On most other MUbjocts of public Importance his Lordship 1 * views were similarly broad, and In matters which affected the poorer qtoFgos of Canterbury he was untiring m.' his good c»idcHvors.