THE POPE AND BELGIUM.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume VII, Issue 382, 13 August 1880, Page 9

THE POPE AND BELGIUM.

J S il 10 £ welcome intelligence to v* that "the diplomatic difficulty which has existed for som« time past between Belgium and the \alican, on the subject of the recent inquiry by a Parliamentary committee into tbe matter of public instruction in Beiginm, has now flSMimccl a much more serious aspect." It is with no pleasure we learn that •' a settlement of the dispute being impossible, a rupture bas occurred, and diplomatic relations have been suspended." It is * sad thing to find another Catholic nation breaking away from the' centre of Catholic unity, though it is some consolation to know that Sr? o^, 18 r Ot ' , in tbis Case ' the P e °l )le - Tbe * in Belgium are still stannch Catholic, but being inert at the poll, or, at least, from not having taken a sufficiently active inteicst iv the elections have allowed the radical party to secure a preponderating power in the government of the countiy. But whilst icgretting that diplomatic difficulties have resulted iv a rupture with the Holy See, we cannot but clciive soire gratification from perceiVing how completely tin course of events has refuted the false icpoits which the Liberal journals on the continent ciiculated regarding the attitude of the Holy Bee towards the Belgian bis-hops ou the education question. It is said, it may be lemcmbered. that his Holiness disapproved of the conduct of the bishops in condemning in unqualified teims the action ot the fctate. .Reuters telegram, by implication, contradicts that statement, and we have a still more decided refutation of the falsehood man extract which the Conrrier de Bruxelles has oiade from a private letter received from Borne. In this letter it is said :— I had to ask his Holiness for a special benediction fora Catholic school which we are building in Belgium, and I availed myself of tbe occasion to speak of "the exchange of views" and of the pretended disaccord between the Holy Bee and the bishops of Belgium. " How could it be supposed that there was any disagreement between mo and the episcopacy, vho are acting for the defence of religion ?" replied Leo XIII , with vivacity. "What surprises me," added bis Holiness, ma tone of some seventy, "is that Catholics could hay« supposed that there was any disaccoi d between me and the bishops. 1 have never faid a single word against the episcopacy." His Holiness then continued : " You will be able to state everywhere that there has never been any disaccord between the Pope and the bishops. 4«/«f sai J t^ you hnow this from the Ujn of the Pope .'" Leo XIII. then inquired, with great interest, about r.ur school. " Make a suitable school," said the Eoly Father : " make it of such a character that it may become a centie for all the youth of the locality." The Fope then gave us a special benediction for the school and for th« curewho has charge of it ; and the Holy Father added, " Say to th« good cure that there is no disagreement between me and the episcopacy. r It needs but little discrimination on the part of a Catholic to perceive when a report in a Protestant journal on Catholic affairs may be either true or false. Those of the latter character are usually so plainly branded as spurious that we have no hesitation in denouncing them, but, at the same time, it is always satisfactory to be able, as m the present instance, to confirm our condemnation upon the very best authority. When the story about the Belgian bishops and the Holy Bee appeared in the Melbourne morning journals, we directed attention to it as an impudent fabrication, as it bore internal evidence of its fraudulent character ; and, in the very papers in which the report was given, now appears its contradiction, This is satisfactory, though it is by no means a sign of a growing sense of justice or honour. — Advocate.

The Irish population (says a correspondent of an Irish paper) is at the end of May 5,363,590, having been reduced again during the last three months by emigration. This brings it back again almost to ihe number of 1803— 5,216,329— since which time it has continued to m SE?f£i £ c . lowest recorded total, however, was in 1875 of •>,rf09,494. Emigration is on the ii't case. The people of Ireland seem to be still " going with a vengeance," to use an oft-quoted Tunes newspaper expression. Emigration continues to be on the increase, and the natural result has been a further material reduction iv the number of the population. At the end of May this year the population of Ireland, according to a correspondent of one of the London papers, stood at 5,303.590. Before the people of Ireland began to go " with a vengeance" they numbered over eight millions— nearly as large a population as England and Wales put together, could boast ot at the beginning of this century, and over five times the population of Scotland ia 1801 . Whilst three millions of people have gone away from Ireland " with a vengeance," the populations of England and Wales and of Scotland h&ve increased four-fold. There was a time when the gi cat bulk of the people of England could be told, and would believe, that it was all their own fault that the people of Ireland turned their backs on their native land and sought refuge among strangers in far-off countries, and that the possession of power and wealth and tbe advantage derivable from royal patronage had nothing to do with the remarkable prosperity of England and Scotland. .Happily the English peoDle of the preseat day are too advanced in education to be longer hoodwinked. Toth*t increased and increasing knowledge the friends of Ireland may look" hopefully, — Universe.