The Catholic World.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXVI, Issue 33, 22 December 1898, Page 20

The Catholic World.

AMERICA.— The Church in New England-— The Baptists have just discovered that New England is rapidly becoming Catholic, and loud is their wail, and long. There were in 1890 34 000 more Catholics than all the Protestant se*ts in the six States, and to-day the difference would have to be written in six figures. ' The Roman Catholics are making a new France of the home of the patriots.' This reference to the Catholics in the, Newy England States, says the New York Sun, is undoubtedly true ;¥q. fcjrtas concerns their present numerical superiority there. _In those, fix States they had 1734,605 communicants in 1890 out of a total church membership of 1,0611,202 ; or in other words, the Catholics were more than all the Protestants by 34,000. In Massachusetts an<l Rhode Island they comprised about two-thirds of the whole number of communicants. In Connecticut they were nearly one-half ; and even in Vermont, formerly almost wholly Protestant, they were two-fifths of the total membership. In every New England State they were at least the most n amorous of the religious communions. The preponderance of Catholics in New England, once the very citadel of Protestantism, is due, of course, to the great immigration of recent years ; but it has also occurred evidently because of the falling off of religious faith and convictions among the Protestant population. In 1890 only about one-quarter of the inhabitants were of foreign birth, and probably at least one-quarter of these were Protestants by rearing ; yet nearly three-fifths of the whole church-membership was Catholic. An Australian Visitor. — Rev. D. K. Harrington, of the diocese of Ballarat, Australia, has been visiting San Antonio. After ten years' labour in the Australian missions he is about to revisit his home in Ireland, and stopped over in Texas to see his brother, Rev. Daniel R. Harrington, at present of Dallas. On his voyage from Australia he stopped at the Hawaiian Islands and witnessed the raising of the American Flag at Honolulu. He also took occasion to visit China and Japan, touring the latter country on a bicycle. He passed the Philippine Islands shortly after the capture of Manila and was anxious to see that city, but passengers were not at that time permitted to land. Father Harrington received a cordial welcome from the local clergy, and visited the missions and other points of interest in the city and vicinity. He preached an eloquent sermon at High Mass in the Cathedral, and afterwards left for Dallas.

Returned to the Fold- — Nine oonverts were solemnly received into the Church at St. Peter's, New York, during a recent mission given by the Jesuit Fathers. ENGLAND.— A New Church-— While thousands of Catholics ewarin round the school chapels in the slums of Southwark, and exuding debts weigh down the miserable missions which struggle on in overcrowded London, it must be a great gratification to the priest and people of liedhill to find themselves possessed of a beautiful new church free from debt at the outset, consecrated on the day of its opening, erected at the cost of generous donors whose names are not allowed to transpire, complete in its appointments, and lacking nothing but a congregation. This will doubtless come ; but at present the church stands among the Surrey hills, the centre of a misbion which territorially extends from Croydon to Crawley, and from Caterham to Dorking. The cungresration numbering about 2.">0 forms one per cent, of the population of the town of Redhill, in a prominent position of which the church is raised.

FRANCE.— Prohibited Processions.—lt seems likely that there would be considerably less moaning over the suppression of religious processions by Jacks-in-office in the provincial cities and communes of France if the inhabitants took to heart the example just set them by the people of Gisors (Eure). The usual procession on All Souls' Day had been forbidden by order of the municipal authorities. This not being to the taste of the townspeople, they set to work to get up a petition for the restoration of the procession. Confronted by an overwhelming majority of the names of h)s fellow-citizens, begging that the procession might be allowed once more to parade the ctree's as usual, the Mayor issued a proclamation by which the previous prohibition, which had lasted for some few years, was removed. It may here be noted that the Government has just stopped the payment of his salary to the Abbe Picaulet, cure of Alosnac, in Cbareate Inferieure, because he had founded a religious school which was draining the Godless communal school of its unwilling scholars!

He : ' She has such a gad face.' She : ' I should say it would make anyone sad to have such a face.' Professor Mahaffey, of Trinity College, Dublin, has published nome good stories of Irish landlords' indifference to the education of their children. With many of the class he remonstrated on the neglect of their sons' education. He enumerate some of the answers he got. 'He hasn't to earn bis brend like poor people. What good are books? They ruin most men. Look at Gladstone!' The profesKor de lares that many Irish landlords who scoff at the ' lower orders,' and talk about their ignorance with superior contempt, have only the rudest elements of education. They never, he says, read a book. An old lady once said to the Professor, ' What does my son want with an education ? Isn't he a fine, handsome boy, and can't I keep him until he grows up I Then he will go over to England and some rich lady will thrate herself to him.' Were there anything better or fairer on earth than gentleness, Jesus Christ would have taught it to us ; and yet He has given us only two lessons to learn of Him — meekness and humility of heart.