The Catholic World.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXV, Issue 10, 20 August 1897, Page 23

The Catholic World.

BELGIUM.-Social Work in the Diocese of Liege.-The Bun tin Pniplf published the other day a letter which Mgr Doutreloux, Bishop of Liege, recently addressed to the clergy of his diocese when forwarding them copies of the report of the LEuvres Agncoles, which he established two years ago. Since his elevation to the episcopate, Mgr. Doutreloux has distinguished himse.f by the keen and enlightened interest he has taken in social questions and by the active and successful efforts he has made to improve the condition of the working class population in his extensive diocese. In all the great industrial towns he has encouraged the foundation of societies for working men and women, which have produced the happiest results, both from a moral and social point ot view. Two years ago he set on foot the Corporation, de Notre JJamc drs Champs to extend, as he himstdf writes, the benefits of the Encyclical lie rum A oca ruin to the agricultural population, and within that brief period the most gratifying results have been accomplished. In Hi) rural parishes the cultivators have formed parochial t-ymiicates which hold regular meetings to deal with business affecting the' larming interest. Ten Raiffeisen banks have been established embracing in their operations eighteen parishes, and twenty-one parishes are provided with mutual societies for the insurance of cattle. Three co-operative creameries are at work, and in fourteen parishes the farmers have combined for the purchase of agricultural machinery for common use. Upwards of 50 " sections " have been organised for the purchase and Bale of farm produce, seed, implements, etc. In calling the attention of the clergy to these excellent results, the Bishop exhorts them to continued and increased zeal in the good work, and points out those to priesta in whose parishes syndicates have not as yet baen formed the great "utility of theae associations which will powerfully help towards the moral and religious improvement of their flocks and the betterment of their temporal condition. He also recommends that the agricultural labourers be admitted to membership and that special societies be established in their behalf for the promotion amongst them of mutual aid, temperance, thrift and life assurance. Hl3 Lordship concludes by urging- on the clergy— his " dear co-operators "as he calls them — the necessity of safeguarding the morals and religion of those confided to their care, the more especially in view of the dangers with which society is menaced by Socialism and the errors and abuses prevalent at the present day.

FRANCE.— The Pope's Instructions to French Catholics.— The important note published by the Otsercators Romano and which is correctly described as a Pontifical note, has caused some surprise in France, the general impression being that his Holiness Leo XIII. had expressed himself so fully and explicitly on the duties of French Catholics in regard to the form of government adopted by the nation that he would not again see the necessity ot returning to the subject. That he has done so is another and a remarkable proof not only of his great solicitude for the French people, but also of the close and unflagging attention with which he observes all the political and polemical currents winch shape the course of events iv this eoumry. He knows how ortm the meaning or his words and instructions have been turned aside by pjlitical journalists who protest to be the advocates of Catholic interests as well as of dynastic claims opposed to the order of things as now established, but whose party passion is very apt to make them place p ihtics before religion. As time goes on the memory knes Us h.<ld ot the precise meaning ot documents, however important, and false interpretations even by suggestion, may by force of repetition come to be generally accepted. The Sovereign Pontiff has found it necessary to reiterate in a condensed form i 7i d previo'is instructions to French Catholics, and at the same tin. c to censure those who, changing the meaning of his words, have made him appear to be in contradiction with his predecessors, and ouuig who have eluded his instructions by sheltering' themselv^ behind the nreverant pretext tnat his pou^y marked au encroachment of the spiritual authority on the domain of temporal affairs. The note declares tnat the taithtul in the speculative Older of ideas are tree to prefer one lorm of Government to another, but neither directly or indireJy should they carry on a war against the constituted government of the country. On the contrary, in order L o deprive the r advers vneu ot all reason to represent tnem aw the oneui.es of public institutions and to prevent the higher cause of religion troni b.einiug to be identified with that of a political party, they should take up the^r position m the constitutional und le"Vii arena. To Catholics the advancement of religion, with whicu is united the good ot the country, which should be the first object in lite. Thero would be culpability in their case if they engaged in this work with a lukewarm and luddierent t-pirit, and especially it they placed themselves in opposition to it. 'lhe note concludes by sayin<' chat •• the Pope, actuated by no consideration of human interest" but wholly by his solicitude lor souls and his constant affection tor the French nation, hoped that, passions bjing calmed, his words will be listened to with docility by ad, and ne doubts not that the blessings ot G-jd will descend .ibiu.d aitly upon thuse who, geaer-ou-iy de\ otuig themselves to tlie c >inmou good, aie prepared to s.i lihoe, it neel Ijj. their ow.i vieW« and personal tendencies " Tnc publication ot this Pont. fie d note has produced different nnpres ion-, in thu different pjlu.c.il camps. JJy the ultia, Moiiaiv lusts, with whom must bo as^ueiatei certain Imponalists it is regarded with v< xation because- of the blame that it expi esses and tue buppjrt tnai it appears to give to the Republican try t me. Buc it causes mv A\ more annoyance to the Radicals because what they most fear uud what they oppose with all the weapons at their command is a majority m the next Chamber ot Deputies favourable to Republician institutions, but convinced of the necessity of frankly reouirnising the iact that France is Catholic and therefore prepared to undo to some extent the anti-religious legislation so persistently pursued by successive governments for a long course of years.

A Monument in Commemoration of the Charity Bazaar. —The Marquis de Segul has addressed a letter to one ot the Paris journals on the proposed memorial to be ereoted on tho site of the Charity Bazaar. The committee appointed by Cardinal Richard has come to the conclusion that the purchase of the whole site would be an undertaking altogether too costly to be carried out. It has therefore been determined to limit the project to the purchase of as much of the ground aa is necessary for the chapel and space around it, and the cost of its maintenance and service. The Marquis de Segur accepts this decision of the committee as a wise one, and then proceeds to offer certain suggestions as to the character aud object of the foundation. He recommends a building of good dimensions, severe in style and served by two or three priests, either secular or regular, who should live in an adjoining presbytery, and offer Masses not only on behalf of the souls of the victims of the fire, but also of those who by the laicization of hospitals and the suppression of cemetery chaplains have died and been buried without the last rites and services of religion. In this way the new foundation would gain a place in p ipular affection as the sanctuary of the Divine Mercy similar to that gained by Notre Dame and the Basilica of the Sacre Coeur. In this connection it may be noted that Cardinal Richard has issued a short letter to the clergy of the archdiocese of Paris calling attention to the project of the monument in Rue JeauGoujon and requesting their co-operation in the work of getting together the funds necessary for its erection. Money for the purchase of the necessary land has been guaranteed, and large sunn have also been given or promised towards the building fund. The dimensions and grandeur of the church will depend upon the resources available and, therefore, his Eminence hopes that something of the same generosity will be shown which at the time of the disaster guaranteed the works of the bazaar against the loss that they might have suffered from its tragic closure. Rome.— The Pope's Health.— The Holy Father is still full of energy. Even those who know him were astonished at the marvellous endurance ho showed during the long canonisation ceremony in St. Peter's at the end of May. Numbers of relatively youthful cardinals and prelates were practically overcome by the heat and fatigue of that five hours' function, whereas his Holiness loft the sacred edifice seemingly as radiant as ho had entered it. He has now begun his whole day's outings in the Vatican Gardens, and it is wonderful to all his attendants to see the intense interest he still displays in the beauties of nature and in the progress of animal and vegetable life around him. An Ordination According to the Greek Rite.— On Sunday June l:?, Mgr. Schiro, Archbishop of Neo-0/esarea, alministered the Sacrament of Holy Orders according to the Greek rite in the Church of St. Athanasius, near the Greek ecclesiastical college. The ceremony was witnessed by a large gathering of the faithful, as it was both novel and interesting, even to tho?e accustomed to the magnificent liturgical displays in Rome. After the transfer of the sacred offerings to the high altar, the candidates for the priesthood are presented by the deacons to the priests an 1 by these latter to the bishop, who is teated on the throii". makes a sign that the iii\ oration of the martyrs be begun. A procession is formed and moves round the altar during the time occupied in the recital ol the prayers. The bishop then takes each of the levites by the arm. and makes him go on his knees and rest his head and hands on the altar. He himself places his hands on the head of the onluuid his and pronounces the sacramental wonK When he has concluded tinremainder of the prescribed prayers he arise, and after putting on the vestments for the holy sacrifice, gives the kiss of peace. Then he proceeds with the Mass, the newly-ordained priests joining in the celebration, aa is the custom also in ordinations according to the Latin rite. UNITED STATES. — Sudden Death of Archbishop Janssens. — Met Key. Francis JanssciiF. D.1.. Archbishop of .New Orleans, La., died .June in on the st--amer Creole, while- on hi- way to New York. The body of the AivhhNhop was brought back to New Orleans on the steamer Hudson, which arrived there on S.ituiday. Dr. Janssons was the fifth Archbishop ol New Orh -ins. lie was born at Til burg. North Brabant. Holland October 17. 1 M 5 A f ter a prel mimry classical course he enteied the eu-h"-iaslieal semitvuy of Bois-le-Due, but. wishing to devote himself to mission work in the United States, he afterward became a student in the American College at Louvain. He was ordained to the priesthood at Ghent. December 2\. 1H(!7. During the year preeednv the ordination of Father Janssens the Lite Bishop John MeGill, of Richmond, had visited the college and eloquently pleaded the wants of his diocese. His words made a deep impression oil young Jan-sens, who, soon after his ordination, ottered his services to Bishop MeGill. and was welcomed to the Richmond diocese The young priest arrived m Richmond in September. IM'>7. and was made assistant priest at the cathedral. In addition to his duties as assistant at the cathedral, of which he was afterwards made pastor, Father Jaiissens attended the parishes ot Danville, Warrenton. Gorlonsville and Culpepper. At the same time he acted as secretary and chancellor of the diocese. He was appointed Vicar-General in LS74,and some years- later, when Bishop (now Cardinal) Gibbons was transferred to Baltimore as coadjutor to Archbishop Bay ley. Father Janssens became administrator of the diocese of Richmond. When Bishop John J. Keane was put in charge of the dioee-e of Richmond he reappointed Father Janssens as Vicar-General and also as pastor of the cathedral. The See of Natchez becoming vacant some years later, the energetic Vicar-General was selected for the dignity, and on May 1, 1 SSI, he was consecrated fourth Bishop of Natchez by Archbishop Gibbons, assisted by Bishops Becker and Keane. The sermon on that occasion was preached by Archbishop Elder, of Cincinnati. His work at was charajteristic of t-\i man, eneigy being one ot his Imminent attributes. InISSI lie erected the mission of the Holy Itosary for tho Choctaw Indians, among whom the Jysmts laboured during the lant century. The Sisters of M< rcy have Mnw established a echool for tho tribe. Archbishop Francis X. Leray died

September 2:s, 1887, and in the following year Bishop Janssens was elevated to the archbishopric of New Orleans. His administration as archbishop was highly successful. "To him, with truth, might be applied the words. 'He was an Israelite, indeed, in whom there was uo guile,' " was Cardinal Gibbons' tribute to tho character of Archbishop Janssens upon hearing of his death. " The late Archbishop was a man of excellent busiuess capacity. His energy and devotion to duty as head of the Church in the diocese of New Orleans did much to relieve the financial embarrassment of the church and promote the spiritual welfare of the people."'