HOLY CROSS COLLEGE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21598, 19 March 1932, Page 2

HOLY CROSS COLLEGE

ERECTION OF NEW BUILDINGS ARCHBISHOP TO LAY FOUNDATION STONE (By A. R. M.) Set amid its glorious gardens, a place apart and enfolded in a “ peace and holy quiet,” so synonymous with the purpose of its existence, Holy Cross College, the Provincial Catholic Seminary of New Zealand, will have added to it this week-end another page in its glowing history. Measured in years, that history is comparatively brief, for Holy Cross is just 32 years old, and is one of the youngest seminaries in the world. But if its actual career has been limited I as yet, the scope of its activities—the success of its mission—has more than compensated for it, as witness of which there will be laid to-morrow afternoon the foundation stone of extensions to the existing buildings, which are vitally necessary owing to the evergrowing demands on the accommodation made by students aspiring to the Catholic priesthood. It is fitting that to-morrow’s ceremony will be performed by his Grace Archbishop Redwood, now 93 years of age, the oldest bishop in the world, and a magnificent oak in the garden of the Catholic Faith. The venerable patriarch of the New Zealand Catholic Church, who has not paid an “ official ” visit to the Dunedin Diocese for some time past, w T as consecrated bishop by Cardinal Manning on March 17, 1874, and created archbishop by Papal Brief, dated May 13, 1887—some 13 years before Holy Cross College was opened. Retaining his mental and physical faculties to a degree that astonishes people half his age, his Grace is having the unique experience, in recent years, of taking part in commemoration or similar ceremonies connected with institutions which he either inaugurated or assisted to inaugurate, in some cases half a lifetime earlier. It was Archbishop Redwood, for instance, who laid the foundation stone of the original St, Patrick’s College in Wellington; it was Archbishop Redwood who laid the foundation stone of the new St. Patrick’s at Silverstream, only a year or two ago. His ardent interest in education is well known to Catholics and non-Catholics alike, and to-morrow’s function will be to him a joyful and gratifying one. Associated with the Archbishop will be Bishop Brodic, of Christchurch, and Bishop Whyte, of Dunedin. Unfortunately Dr James M. Liston, Bishop of Auckland, a former rector of the college, is prevented from being present owing to the fact that he would not be able to return to his diocese in time for Holy Week celebrations at which he must officiate. EARLY HISTORY From the very start Holy Cross has been singularly blessed .in the matter of those to whom its welfare has been entrusted. Actually, the college owes its introduction to Pope Leo XIII, who, with customary foresight, ordered the meeting of the first Provincial Council of New Zealand to consider the establishment of a Provincial Ecclesiastical Seminary, The council met in Wellington in January, 1899, when the proposal to establish the college was ratified, it being specifically stated that it was to be erected in the diocese of Dunedin, where it would be under the personal and saintly care of the late Bishop Michael Verdon, its founder and first president. The wise bishop’s extensive experience and training in the older seminaries abroad fitted him admirably for the task. Thereafter, Holy Cross College became his beloved protege, and the results of his wonderful work are seen in many forms to-day. The bishop purchased the Mosgiel House property I in 1899. the old wooden building, which is still in a state of perfect preservation. having been built by the late Mr Arthur Burns from plans by the late Mr H. F. Hardy, of Dunedin, towards the end of the sixties. In 1878 Mr Hyde Harris acquired the property, and it was from his successor, Mr Swan, that Bishop Verdon purchased the place. On May 3, 1900, the college was opened, there being associated with the bishop three young priests, the late Fathers John Ryan, Michael Headen, and Michael Ryan. By the end of the year, II students were in residence, three of whom were ordained—viz., the Very Rev. Dr C. J. Morkane, the present rector; the Rev. Father Minoguc, of New Plymouth; and the Rev. Father Woods, of Riversdale. In 1900 Bishop Verdon laid the foundation stone of the beautiful chapel (a gem of an example of the Roman Basilica style), and in 1917 the present sanctuary was added as a memorial to the late Father James M'Menamin, an old student of the college, who gave his life at Messines in the Great War. A tablet in the chapel commemorates the death of Father M'Menamin, and there is an enlarged photograph of him in the college library. For some years past the college roll 1 has numbered between CO and 70 stu- I dents from the four dioceses of the Do- I i

minion. Many of the most distinguished priests in the country were ordained from Holy Cross, “ old boys ” including the Right Rev. Mgr. Connolly, of Kilbirnie, Wellington; the Right Rev. Mgr. Cullen, of Hawera; the Rev. Father Collins, administrator of the Cathedral, Dunedin; the Rev. Dr Buxton, Adm., of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Auckland; and the Rev. Dr M'Rae, Adm., of St. Joseph’s, Wellington. All the professors of the college are, and have been for many years, ex-students of the seminary. Since his appointment as Catholic Bishop of Dunedin, the Rt. Rev. Dr Whyte has been an invaluable friend to the seminary, and the present extension scheme is receiving his personal attention. THE EXTENSIONS. The first extensions to the college were made in 1905, when the present brick buildings, comprising a large hall, dormitory for some 20 students, and several smaller rooms were erected. Each year the number of young priests sent forth has increased considerably, 98 having been ordained to date, while, at the end of the year, that number will be increased to over 100. For a long time the accommodation at the college has been severely taxed, and recently an appeal for funds was made throughout every parish in the country. The response was most satisfactory, with the result that the present extensions are being carried out. Many important additions are to be made. There will be a central block accommodating a main entrance hall and vestibule, reception rooms, and oratories, with living quarters on the ground floor for 24 students and for 13 students and six priests on the upper. A long common room for the priests occupies the central part of this top floor and opens on to a balcony over the main entrance. The kitchen and domestic quarters are being modernised and enlarged to meet the requirements of the increased number of students. A new north wing will comprise cubicles for the students, and will accommodate, on two floors, 47 students and two priests, besides an office and strong room. The buildings are so planned as to allow of the philosophy and the theology students being separated into two distinct groups. An up-to-date sick bay is being constructed, and particular attention has been given to modern sanitary and heating arrangements. The library and lecture rooms in the present south wing will continue in use. New tennis courts are being put down, as the main north wing will encroach on the present ones. Representing an expenditure of almost £20,000, the construction is mainly of brick walls, reinforced with concrete piers and beams specially constructed to combat the eeffet of earthquakes. Terracotta tiles will cover the roof, and the external appearance of the new buildings, which are providing work for a large number of tradesmen, will be of a dignified Georgian pattern. RECTOR AND STAFF. Twenty-three years of service in Holy Cross College is the splendid record of the present j-cctor, the Very Rev. Dr Morkane, through whose hands have passed many of the priests now labouring in various parts of New Zealand and in places far afield. Originally one of the seminary’s first students, Dr Morkane subsequently studied at St. Patricks College, Manly, Sydney. In 1903 he proceeded to the Urban College of Propaganda Fide, in Rome, where he was ordained in 1907. In 1910 he joined the staff of Holy Cross as professor, and in 1920 succeeded as rector Dr J. M. Liston, now Catholic Bishop of Auckland, who was in charge from 1910. Associated with Dr Morkane at the present time are the Rev. Dr Klimeek, the Rev. Dr O’Neill, and the Rev. Fathers M'Mahon, Finlay, Loughnan, and Francis Bennett. Into the keeping of these scholarly and kindly Fathers is placed the guidance of the young Levites who aspire to the highest dignity their beloved faith can oiler them; and those of the faith know that Holy Cross College, so ably launched, so carefully nurtured, is in good custody when left to this little band of priestprofessors, whose work and that of the students will be materially aided when the proposed increased accommodation, of which to-morrow’s ceremony will mark the nucelus, becomes a reality.