HONDURAS.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume VIII, Issue 414, 18 March 1881, Page 11

HONDURAS.

Thb following letter appeared in the New Orleans Morning Star of September 26th :—: — Unfortunately, all that has been hitherto written on the subject of Central America, has been the product of the pens of those who were inimical to our holy religion, or at l«ast, indifferentists wlio ; could nut understand what they saw, and the result is that even our brefhern in the North, who read, seeing statements against the , Church so often repeated at laßt begin to believe them. True there have been great disorders ; where have they not been ? Is France the less a Catholic country because it had its Communists, its reign of terror, its Danton, its Robespierre, because is has recently expelled the Jesnita ? Before we prejudge Central America, it would be well to Know something of its history. It has not yet been written, for she is now making it. True, and pity 'tis, 'tis true that revolution was the order of the day years back, but no longer can this be said, and notably so of Honduras. We have had a stable Government and and prosperous finances since tie accession of Dr. Boto to the chief magistracy. Our commerce with New Orleans and other ports of the United States has augmented six-fold within four years, and, not to be too confident, those who know predict that within five years our exports wii^amount to six millions. It is not generally known that we have the first divisiou of an Inter-oceanic Railway cut and graded with rails laid and nearly fifty miles in use. Even before this letter shall have Been the light a line of steamers from New York direct (it is whispered that Morgan is the head and front of the enterprise) shall have made its first trip. Tour own steamships Wanderer and F. B. Ward, Jr. visit us regularly to say not Ling of the numerous schooners plying regularly between (Jortez and your city. And here I would call the attention of your merchants to the fact that nine-tenths of the precious woods that are cut oa our coast gtrttrfiurope. This is a singular oversight, it appears to me, on the part of the proverbially keen Yankee. Surely there is a demand for cabinet wood in. your glorious Republic 1 But it was not my intention to entertain you with a letter on commerce but to give your readers a plain straightforward statement of facts consenting the state ojf the Church in this republic, to remove some wrong impression i and to call the attention of the thinking public to the fact of the existence of an almost unknown expanse of fertile territory almost at its doors, where yellow fever is unknown and where man never dies of hanger. The episcopal see of Honduras was erected simultaneously with that of Salvador, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua ; Guatamala, hitherto being only a bishopric, at the same time becoming a metropolitan and Archbishop's seat. The first Bishop of Honduras resided in Truxillo, on the northern cost, as did his successor. This, of course, was in the time of the Spanish domination, and when the crown oidered the erection of a city as an entre pot, to be erected half-way between the two oceans, and Comaygua was selected as the site, the Bee was thither transferred, and still is there, although the capital is at lequcigalpa, nearer the Pacific coast. The regimen of >tbe Church was then, and has been until very lately the fcame as that in Spain, but on the accession of the Liberal party to power various reforms were projected, and among them tbe abolition of the payment of the tithes (diezmos ) and first fruits (primitias) and the substitution in their place of an annual subsidy to be paid to the Bishops for the support of the seminary, tbe canons of the Cathedral and other expenses of the Diocese. Now, there are some folks, who, perhaps, don't like the Liberal Government, who say that this subsidy has never been paid. A part of the old system was what was called the arancel, or ecclesiastical schedule of prices, by which the State established what and how much the faithful should give to the priest at baptisms and marriages. The State having in view tbe diezmos, of course, put the figures very low and now that the tithes and, first fruits no longer are paid the arancel should, logically, have so force ; but who ever knew a Republic to be logical ? tio that were the faithful not well aware of their duties in the premises, and did they not comply with them, the poor priest would lead a sorry life. The example of a large colony of Irishmen, who settled here some time ago, infused new life in the people and we have nothing to complain of. As I have said, the Biabop, whose name is Juan de Jesus Zepeda y Zepeda, 0.5. F., resides in the interior and is quite old. There is but one other bishop in all Central America. He, of Guatemala, resides with the Jesuits in Havanna, an exile, the archdiocese .beiflg governed by his Vicar General. He, of Nicaragua, has just gone to his reward. Salvador is vacant ; and the recently named German Bishop of Costa Rica has not yet arrived. There is an ecclesiastical seminary in Comyagna ; but, as the poor Bishop is in straitened circumstances, it is with great difficulty that it is maintained. The Council of Trent, of course, has long been promulgated here «nd all its decrees are in force. We have, therefore, our canons who regularly sing the office in choir and perform the various functions about the cathedral assigned to them. It is a familiar sight to see these venerable priests in tbe streets of the episcopal city with the long shovel hat, wrißtleU of white lace and loose flowing cloaks. The various offices of the Church are carried out with great solemnity in the cathedral and as there are yet many costly vestments and vessels left from the cupidity of the early revolutionists, all Comayagua'a glory has not yet departed. The main altar has a massive frontal of pure silver, and the crowns of the various statues of tbe Blessed Virgin contain many precious stones, as do also tbe vestments. All the chalices are of pure gold' as well as the monstrance and pyx. 1 shall very probably scandalize some of my Northern brethren when I tell them that we all eat meat on Fridays, and they will hardly believe me when I assert that it is by permission pf the Holy See and by an express bull.

In the time of the Crusades, the Spaniards responded bo nobly to the call of Peter the Hermit, that the Holy Father was constrained to give them a signal mark of his favour and this he did by granting the bull Santa Crutada, in virtue of which we may eat meat ou all Fridays of the year except those of Lent and Advent. Another privilege we have, is that the priests may say three Mast** on All bonla' Day. The personnel of the Church in Honduras, consists of the Bishop, Vicar General, seven Canons, among whom are tbe Dean, the Archprirst, Archdeacon and Secretary, two honorary Canona, one a native of the United Stateß, and sixty-nine priests, of whom six are reverend deans. There are one hundred and forty-eight churches and three chapels or oratories. I had intended to speak of a celebrated shrine to which pilgrimages are made twice in the year, but I fear greatly that I have already taxed your patience and will leave it until another time. SIEMPEE FIEL.