OBITUARY.

Otago Witness, Issue 3376, 27 November 1918, Page 11

OBITUARY.

Dlt VERBON. BISHOP OF DUNEDIN. WELLINGTON, November 23. Dr Verdon, Roman Oatholio Bishop of Dunedin, died last night from heart failure following on a seizure of bronchitis. Tha deceased prelate journeyed from Auckland to Wellington on Friday of last week, and the fatiguing journey brought on the attack that caused his death.

Bishop Vcrdon was born on December 19, 1838, at Liverpool. ' His father came of a well-known family in the County of Louth, Ireland, . and his mother was a

native of Kildare, Ireland. Ho was a nephew of. the late Cardinal Cullen, Archbishop of Dublin, and a first cousin of the late Cardinal Moran, of Sydney. He studied first at Castleknock, Dublin, and later at the Irish College, Rome. He was ordained a priest on December 28, 1861, and became first a professor, and subsequently rector- of Holy Cross College, the • ecclesiastical seminary of Dublin. Remain. : t ing there for 19 years, he enlarged the : buildings, and erected a magnificent church at a cost of £30,000. He improved the teaching, arid made the seminary one of the finest in Ireland. At the request of the Archbishops of Ireland he went to . Rome to assist in the government of tho Irish College. There he made big improvements in every direction, and at tho end of his term was raised to the dignity of a j domestic prelate During the troubled years of the Irish fight for Homo RuleI under_ Parnell he played a very effective | part in defending Ireland's cause at the Vatican. In 1888 he was taken to Sydney by Cardinal Moran to take charge of' the new ecclesiastical seminary at Manly, built at a cost of £BO,OOO. Under his rule the students rose in numbers from one to 65. In 1895 h© was appointed by the Australian bishops as their permanent representative at Rome. Whilst on his way thither he received word of his appointment to tho Bishopric of Dunedin in succession to th* late Dr Moran. The imposing ceremony of his conseoration by Cardinal Moran took place in St. Joseph's Cathedral, Dunedini on May 3, 1896. amidst great rejoicing on the part of hfe own people, and abundant good wishes on the part of. non-Catholics. During his 22 years as bishop, Dr Verdon went about his work quietly, but in a.manner which p-ained him the deep and ever-increasing affectioit. of his own people and the respect of outsiders. He took no active part in rvublio affairs, concentrating all his energy on tho affairs of his own Church. Amongst th© more important works to which the lato bishop set his hands were the establishment, of the St. Vincent de Paul Orphanage, South Dunedin, which he placed under the care of the Sisters of Mercy, and in which he always took tho deepest possible interest; the introduction of the Little Sisters of the Poor to look after the aged poor of all creeds; and the founding of a college at Mosgiel for the training of aspirants to the priesthood. The Bishops of New Zealand decided in 1899 to proceed with this lastnamed work, and Bishop Verdon took upon himself the heavy responsibility of providing the property, and staffing, equipping, and maintaining the college. He went about this work in his usual quiet way, but tho ripened wisdom and garnered experience of nearly 40 years of college life in three countries oaused the college visibly to grow under his hands. On December 12, 1909, ho had the happiness of ordaining the first six priests from Mosgiel, one of whom was the late Father M'Menamin, so well known to the soldiers on Gallipoli and in France. i Tho college work showed only one side of his interest in the all important education question. He was deeply convinced that true education lies at the root of morality and Christian civilisation, and despite many adverse sijrns he believed that public opinion would in time come to recognise the justice and reasonableness of the Catholic claims in this matter. Under Bishop Verdon's guidance the diocese of Dunedin has grown in numbers and in works. Thirty-five priests now minister in 65 churches and 54 stations. Ten religious brothers and 200 nuns hold_ in their charge 40 schools, in which 2400 children are receiving a Catholic education. The orphanage at South Dunedin cares for over 100 children, whilst the home at Anderson's Bay shelters some 70' inmates of all creeds. The Catholic population stands at 25,000. In 1911 Bishop Verdon celebrated his golden jubilee of the priesthood. Some two months ago he went to Rotorua for health reasons, _ and improved very considerably by nis stay there. On the return journey, however, he caught a cold, which developed into bronchitis, and after some days of sufferinjr at "Wellington, died there on Friday night. He was beloved by his own Sock for his kindlv nature, his simple ways, his eminent spirit of justice, and_ his intense devotion to doity, and was consid*i?ed bv them to have bee© endowed with tho rare gift of sanity. His sermons reflected.the man; plain, practical, and redolent of the spirit of the Gospel. The Very Rev. Father Coffey, Adm., went north on Wednesday, and with the Very Rev. Father Murphy, of Riverton, was with the bishop at the end.