KAPONGA CONVENT SCHOOL.

Taranaki Daily News, 21 April 1922, Page 6

KAPONGA CONVENT SCHOOL.

THE OPENING CEREMONY. ARCHBISHOP REDWOOD SPEAKS. The opening ceremony in connection with the new Convent School at Kaponga was performed yesterday by Archbishop Redwood, in the presence of a large crowd of local adherents to the church and visitors. The other clergy present were Monsignor McKenna, Dean Power and Fathers Maples, N. Moore (parish priest), J. Moore, R. Moran, Cahill and Long. High mass was celebrated in the church before the ceremony, the choir being assisted by the New Plymouth Convent orchestra. The church was overcrowded, and the school was no less so when the gathering repaired thence to witness the official opening. In declaring the school open, His Grace congratulated the people of Kaponga on their fine effort in building the school. The Church was established to last for all time, and to be the treasure house of all the graces. Christ had said “go and teach j all the nations”, and had invited the co- j operation of the church. To extend the t church the people should extend Catholic ! education. We lived in an atmosphere I of materialism and great danger. Even grown-up people found how hard it was | to keep the faith; how much more so was it with the children ? The future of Ca- 1 tholieism in New Zealand depended upon the Catholic schools. It was a Catholic’s { duty and glory to build schools. The j schools and teachers throughout the coun- ' try were doing noble work, but how were the people able to build the schools? They were built by the self-denial of the Catholic body. The people and the priests had devoted their labor, time and money to the work, and therefore it had God’s blessing. In conclusion His Grace congratu- . lated the nuns for their part in teaching, and the clergy for the good work they 1 were doing. He was proud of the school j and of Kaponga. { Father Moore, in thanking the Archbishop, mentioned that there was a debit of £750 on the building, and on subscriptions being called for a large sum was raised in the room.

A very pleasing programme of musical and vocal items was given by the pupils of the school and the New Plymouth Convent orchestra, each item eliciting appreciation and applause. The school having been duly declared open, the gathering adjourned to the Kaponga Town Hall, where a sumptuous luncheon was laid, and despite the fact that the whole hall was taken up with tables the attendance was so large that the festive board was fully occupied by a seeond sitting. Mr. C. P. Crowley was in the chair.

The toast of “The Pope and King” having been drunk, Father Moore proposed the “.Health of the Guest of Honor, Archbishop Redwood”. Father Moore said that His Grace did not need any introduction to Kaponga, as he was well known there. The archbishop was the oldest bishop or archbishop in the world, and he had been in New Zealand for 50 years. His influence was felt in the churches, schools and colleges, and he was the most distinguished ecclesiastical citizen in the country. His learned writings were not confined to the church alone, and his interests and sympathy were as broad as the world. Like every good Catholic, His Grace was not a fanatic in his religion. The toast was drunk with musical honors and cheers. In responding, Archbishop Redwood said he came out to New Zealand in 1842, taking six months on the voyage. When Cardinal Gibbons had died it left His Grace the senior bishop of the world. He always had a soft spot in his heart for Kaponga, and the erection of such a fine Catholic

school was the district’s crowning effort. It would remain a lasting monument to the cause of Catholic education, for which ; they lived and for which they would die. 1 He had helped to found St. Patrick’s Col- ' lege in Wellington, from which 160 young ■ priests had gone out. The college was ’ founded that young men might have a good classical education free from sectarianism. “Catholic Education and the Sisters” i was proposed by Dean McKenna, who paid ! a tribute to the sisters for the work they ' were doing in teaching, and the people , who had come forward to have the school j built. If the cause were forgotten the building might seem extravagant, . but nothing could be too good for the cause of Catholic education. Dean Power, responding, said there were i more schools in the diocese than churches. The Kaponga Convent School deserved to , flourish, because the proper method of obtaining our destiny was through a Christian education. The Catholic educa- I

t ion al system was a perfect one, because • it developed the spirit and the intellect, ! and created the superman who stood above | the ignorance and corruption of the age. ! The dean desired to couple the name of Father Moore (the parish priest) with the toast. At the conclusion of the function Father Moore, on behalf of the parish, thanked the Catholic Church Committee and all those who had helped to make the erection of the school possible, and who con- | tributed towards the success of the opening j ceremony. The new school is a handsome modern ! concrete building, finished in roughcast. It has spacious, airy eftass-rooms, and is I comfortably equipped to meet the demands | of present-day educational methods. The I debit of £750 on its construction was ap- ■ preciably reduced by the voluntary contri- I buttons at yesterday’s function, and it is hoped in the near future to have the institution free from debt.