CATHOLICS AND THE WAR

Otago Witness, Issue 3312, 5 September 1917, Page 7

CATHOLICS AND THE WAR

CONSCRIPTION OF THE CLERGY. RESOLUTION OF PROTEST. Thero was a crowded meeting in St. Joseph's Hall on Sunday, 26th, representative of St. Joseph's congregation, to consider tho Military Service Act in its application to the Roman Catholic clergy, religious brothers, and ecclasiaetical students. Mr J. Brown presided, and tho proceedings throughout were marked by deep earnestness and a serious realisation of what compulsory service and the consequent taking of tho prieets, teachers, and students from their legitimate avocation would entail on the dominion as a whole and the diocese of Dunedin in particular. The Chairman, in moving the first resolution, said their bishops had asked for exemption of tho theological students, but only for those students who were in their last four years. A full course took about 10 years of study, and although thero were between 50 and 69 students attending the college in Mosgiel, out of the whole of that number there were only 18 reading the theological course, and it was only for these 18 students that exemption was being asked for. Again, eight of these students were studying for this diocese, and it was only for those divinity students, eight for this diocese -or 18 for the whole of New Zealand, that they wero asking exemption. The services of six or seven priests had been last to the diocese during the last two years, and thero were only eight theological students in the college to make up the losses that would occur during the next four years. They therefore considered it would be monstrous injustice, in fact, an injustice closely allied to religious persecution, to take any of those 18 young men to take part in the war, where their presence could make no appreciable difference to the final result. With regard to the religious brothers, there were only five in this parish, and three in the Invercargill parish, or a sum total of eight in the whole diocese. Those brothers have come over from Australia without fee or reward to carry on the work of tho schools here, and to give-.the children a Christian education. If they, or any of them, were conscripted it simply meant the closing of their schools —a contingency which was unthinkable and which they could not permit to happen. At the present time the diocese was wofully understaffed and was working considerably below its minimum of efficiency. In conclusion, the speaker moved " That this meeting of the Catholics of St. Joseph's Cathedral parish, on patriotic and religious grounds, enter their most emphatic protest against any of their priests, religious teachers, and theological students being called upon to render military service during the present lamentable war."— (Applause.) Mr J. llally, in seconding the resolution exhibited a photograph of 50 former pupils of the local Christian Brothers' School, 40 of whom were already at the front or in camp. —(Applause.) The motion was then put to tho meeting and carried unanimously amidst applause. The Chairman moved that the meeting call upon the Government to so amend the Military Service Act to secure the exemptions asked for, and that copies of these resolutions be sent to the Prime Minister, the Minister of Defence, and the local members of Parliament. This resolution was seconded by Mr M. Reddington, and carried unanimously.