BIBLE IN SCHOOLS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 75, Issue 244, 15 October 1932, Page 8

BIBLE IN SCHOOLS

THE CATHOLIC ATTITUDE ' HIERARCHY'S OPPOSITION ! METROPOLITAN'S STATEMENT. | I Per Press Association.) WELLINGTON. Oct. 1-1. A comprehensive statement of tho position of the Catholic Church with regard to the Religious Instruction, in State Schools Enabling Bill, now before the Legislative Council, has been handed to the Post by Archbishop Redwood, Metropolitan of New Zealand, for publication. Archbishop Redwood says that the New’ Zealand hierarchy of the Catholic Church consists of the Metropolitan and Bishops of Christchurch. Dunedin and Auckland—Bishops Brodie, Whyte and Liston. When the Bible-in-Schools representatives met the Catholic Bishops in conference their proposals received sympathetic consideration and they were asked to reduce their legislative .programme to writing and submit it at a later date for the hierarchy’s perusal and comments. When this programme was submitted to Archbishop O’Shea. Archbishop Redwood was absent from New Zealand and Archbishop O'Shea, without consulting the three Bishops, wrote approving of the suggestions made. Tire Bishops of Christchurch, Dunedin and Auckland were unaware that the Bible-in-Schools representatives had submitted their programme to Archbishop O’Shea, who assumed the concurrence of the Bishops

in this approval. When the statement of the Bible-in-Schools Committee, referring to Archbishop O’Shea’s approval as that of the Catholic bodv, appeared in the Press, the named Bishops for the first time knew of Archbishop O’Shea’s approval. Tn turn each of the Bishops dissociated himself publicly from concurrence. Later, on his return to New Zealand, Archbishop Redwood summoned a meeting of the hierarchy, and in a considered statement signed by the four members, the hierarchy addressed to the. Parliamentary Committee, then taking evidence on last year’s Bill, their joint disapproval of the contents. This statement, -which is quoted in full, is a repetition of the statement of the hierarchv in 1925.