SERMON BY THE BISHOP OF CHRISTCHURCH.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXI, Issue 21, 21 September 1894, Page 8

SERMON BY THE BISHOP OF CHRISTCHURCH.

(From an occasional Correspondent.) A LAEOE congregation filled the pro-Cathedral. Christchurch on Sunday morning when his Lordship the B.shop of the diocese delivered an eloquent sermon on Catholic education. Taking for his text the passage from Gentn.P iv, 9 "Am I my brother's keeper " the preacher made a comparison between the crime of Cam and the still more heinous crime of destroying the life of the eoul, and the answer given if not in words, in deed by who those support and promote the unholy work of destroyii g the spiritual life of our dear little ones by forcing upon them a godless system of eduction. The B.shops of New Zealand had rectntly met in conference upon matters affec in c the spiritual interests of the Catholic 9 of this Colony and foremost amongst these was the all- mportant question of religious education The venerable champion of the cause of Catholic educat,on-the revered Bishop of Danedm was unable, owing to severe illness, to attend, but he had cordially endorsed the decisions arrived at • « That in view of the deplorable fact that a large proportion of the Catholic children attending the oon-Catbolic schools in this Colony practicall? lose their faith, the B.shopsof New Zealand again inculcate the grave duty incumbent on Catholic pwentsof sending the children to the Catholic echools, and warn them that the sending of their children to non-Catholic schools generally institutes a grievous sin which debars them from the reception of the sacraments so long as they persist in such a dereliction of parental duty." The publication of this short resolution has given rise to much aiverse criticism and amongst others the following ques-ions have been asked. " What, then do the New Zealand bishops mean by their recent pronouncement?' Have they given a further proof of their intolerance and narrow-minded bigotry ? Does the Bishop of Christchurch agree with the p-iragr.-ph which week after week headsthe leaderin the Tablkt theoniy Catho He journal in New Zealand ? " In answer to th.se queries hia lordship ably showed that we are our brother's keeper. Bishops, priests parents, and guardians realise that thay have a sacred duty to perform in regard to the children, a responsibility w h eh they cannot chirk and which no power oc earth can abrogate nor usjrp. In the discharge of this solemn obligation the spiritual heaos of the fl;ck have met to warn parents and guardians against impending dangers to the raith and mora's of their children. Now we all know by daily experience that the faith and morals of our people are greatly menaced by the godlesa system of education which is sought to be thrust upon them in this Colony. Are not the bishops bound ni confidence to warn and if needs be to threaten those who are

m danger of repeating the awful crime of Cam ? We believe New Zealand is a Christian colony and that the children of Chris tian colonists should be broaght up as Christians, not as heathens or athe.sts. Hence we insist upon facilities being afforded us of having our children educated in schools in wb.ch Christianity is not ignored The Catholic Church possesses educational rights on a twofold ground' She acknowledges paiental rights in this respect, in their fullest extent, and as guardian of all right?, more especially of natural onep, sbe has ever protected parents in the exercise of their legitimate authority. In support of the his Lordship quoted a passage from the writings of St Thomas Aquinae, wherein the angelic doctor strongly opposed a proposal to usurp the parental rights of children of Mahoisedanß *nd Jew,, declaring it to be "contrary to right reasnn and repug-ant to natural justice." The parent of every child has received f,om God an inalienable right to which is annexed a solemn duty to educate h,s or her child. No power on eaith should w~rt this right from the parent. Inasmuch as the peace and honour and moral well being of the family depend upon the religious principle, instilled into the mind and heart of youth it is manifestly a sacred obligation for parents to have their offspring educated in schools in which, whilst receiving such instruction in secular subjects as will fi them for their calling in the world, they will imbibe tb 08e principle! of faith and morality which are the ground work and motives of thSl fidelity to their dut.es towards God, towards their fellow-citfeens and themselves. It is on these parental rights that the Church rest,, in grest measure her propagation amongst men by means of infW baptism. The law of nature makes the child, as it were an in« 7 ment so regulated by the parent's intelligence thafit thinks with JS father's thoughts and wills with the father's will." Now a clthv parent by the very fact that he profes.es to be a Catholic pnbS and solemnly acknowledges before his fellow-men his convict,™ , .wo card.nal truths. First he ackoowJ.dges that it liheI ihe °*° scent.ous duty to submit to the Catholic Church as the infalHM* teacher of truth ; and, secondly, he acknowledges that to belong to the Ca tholic Church is necessary for salvation . I Q virtue of this first prin ci P leheacknowled g eshi.obl.gationtofollo W theguida D ceoftheChnrl in all that concerns ihe prsseseion of truth and the preservation of X faith ; and in v.rtue of the second he admits his obligation to D l.j! within her, as w.U.in an ark of salvation, all those whose intere.tsa™ dear to his heart, and who have been confided to his care H love no less than duty h ads him to band over hi* infant treasure to that divine society which he loves to call by the endearine nam # his Holy Mother, the Catholic Church. And what the Charch Zl to do in the case of unwilling infidels she does in the case of cZhf? parents. Gladly acceptiog the child offered her, she regenerates ft

with wa ( er and the Holy Spirit, and incorporates it with her supernatural society. Over the Catholic child thus incorporated with her the Church can claim a right to exercise control on a twofold ground. First because sbe is the divinely appointed guide to truth, and appointed as such by the parents, whom, therefore, she can direct as to the manner in which they are to educate their children so as to discharge their duty faithfully in the sight of God ; secondly, because the child itself haß been "legitimately" admitted to the society of the faithful and has become one of those whom she has to guide to salvation, whom she has to instruct in truth snd to warn against every error. Conscious of the grave responsibilities of tbeir sacred office the Bishop 9of this Colony have considered it a solemn duty to safeguard those little ones committed to their care and to give a further proof of their zeal for the eternal welfare of the immortal souls of their children. Such is the meaning of the recent pronouncement and the answer to the charge of intolerance and bigotry. His Lordship here paid a graceful tribute to the venerable Bishop of Dunedin whose able and psmqteot advocacy of justice to Catholics in the matter of education forms a brilliant gem in the crown of coble deeds which marks his long episcopite in this colony. The preacher emphatically endorsed the sentiments expressed in the paragraph which heads the leader in every issue of the N.Z. Tablet, and gratefully acknowledged the indebtedness of the Catholics of New Zealand to that j-turnal. He also showed by the logic of plain facts and figures where the " Tyranny, oppression, and plunder " come in. The capitation money paid to the school boards for salaries and working exppnsss of schools (irrespective of Bpecial grants for building purposes) is £3 15a per pupil. Now, at the lowest estimate there are 11,000 children in our Catholic schools. Had we the rights of equity and justice granted we should receive for these £41,250 yearly, besides aid in building our schools. Again, the education vote amounts to sixteen shillings per head for the popu'ation of tbe Colony, and as the Catholics number more than 87,000, over £80,000 of cur money is spent on a system of education from which we derive no benefit. Now the present syßtem has been in force seventeen yeirs, and £80,000 multiplied by seventeen gives the enormous sum of £1,360,000. Not only have we been obliged to contribute this large sum for the education of other people's children, bnt we have had to educate our own children, and estimating the cost at a little more than half the amount allowed in State schools, say £2 per pupil, our 11,000 children cost us £22,000 per year, or £374,000 for seventeen years. In other words we have paid since the present godless system came into force £1,360,000 for tbe training of pupils in State schools, and £374,000 for the education of our own children, making a total of £1,600,C00, besides the cost of erecting, furnishing, repairing, and paying taxes for our own schools. If we add the cost of sites and erection of school buildings, the amount of money expended by the Catholics of this Colony on education would not fall short of a million pounds. Is not this tyranny, plunder, and oppression ? Is not this truly suff aring for justice aud conscience sake ? Is the conduct of those who rule the land according to principles of justice and equity? But we are told " the State ecboo's are open to you. You may send your children to them." Even if they were numerous enough to accommodate our children, which we know they are not, we cannot and never will send our children to them. We esteem too highly the precious birthright of our dear little ones to baiter it for a

mess of pottage. In this as in all other questions involving the most eacred principles we are not alone amongst our brethren in this determination. We have the example of our fellow-Catholics of the British Isles, and of Catholic Belgium, whose faithful people when an impious Masonic Government passed a lew suppressing religious teaching in State schools, withdrew their 200,000 Catholic children from such schools and established good Catholic schools. Since then the number of these voluntary Echools has considerably increased and what has been done in Belgium is being done in France and in Germany. Is it not an act of cruel injustice and tyranny to oblige a number of poor people to pay for the instruction of other people's children in schools to which they caanor, on grounds the moßt conscientious, send their own ? We are surely all in New Zealand equal before the law. There is no State religion. In theory, at least, no prefeience is shown, but as a matter of fact what happens? Is it not a fact that Cubolics, otherwise competent, have been Btrictly excluded in some places from the position of teachers in Government schools merely because they are Catholics? And yet our people are obliged to contribute to the building and maintaining of these school!. Is it not a fact that the State schools are favourable to thosa who are irreligious, since no mention is made of Gad in them, no reference to the sublime truths Ha taught, the deeds He did, nor any mention of the end of our creation ? Ara they not practically in favour of atbeuts, of freethinkers, of those who scout the bare idea of the God of the Christians 1 Are they not truly godless ? Is not the present system of S ate education a premium offered to secularism, to freethought and infidelity, and that, too, at the expense and to the detriment of the Christian colonists 1 Is it not an endorsement of irreligion, of godlessnesß? I will not say a word about the daily and forced intercourse with companions whrs3 conversation is that of the irreligious and carping Bceptic, nor of the dread, often expressed to me by non Catholics, of he evil influence of godless teaching and vicious example of many children whose parents live in a continual atmosphere of irreligion and utter depravity. We believe that our children must be trained from their earliest years in an atmosphere breathing religion and morality. We believe that children cannot grow up moral where the very basis of morality is most studionslj withdrawn from them during the noblest years of their lives. For what, according to all, is the baßis of morality ? Is in not religion, and religion alone, which treats of our relationship towards God and our neighbour — God and his revelation— the wondrous life, sufferings, death, and resurrec ion of our Divina Redeemer 1 What morality caa there be without the decalogua and the many Bublime dogmas of Christianity ? All this being banished from State schools how can we expect children trained therein to have when they grow up what has been so heartlessly kept from them during the many plastic yeais of their youth ? Does not daily experience prove that many children taught in State schools grow up treating the great .truths of religion, if not with open contempt", at least with indifference the most undisguised ? Has not one of the greatest warriors and statesmen of modern times Baid : '* Bewara of ihe man who attempts to inculcate morality without religion." Who can blame us if. wi refuse to h<ve our children brought up in such schools ? The learned preacher, in an eloquent peroration, appealed to parents and gaardians to protect their children from the spirit of godlessness and irreligion, to be faithful to the sacred trust imposed in them by God, to be unswerving in their allegiance to their Holy Motherthe Chuich and so struggle courageously and perseveringly under her guidance, againßt the in justice done them in the matter of education.