RELIGIOUS TOLERATION.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXVII, Issue 9, 2 March 1899, Page 19

RELIGIOUS TOLERATION.

Tin: following incident did nnt happen in Spiin. Italy. Ireland, or m any other alleged piiest-ridd^o. country, but in Iliurland, where we are continually told that religious freedom of the purest brand exists — Miss Rayner. a Cathoh,-. applied for th<> position of head nurse She was found to be will qualified f viys the Cut Iml u- Tun, s) for the position ,md was -appointei to it No questions as to her religion were a-keu. Had she heen a Mihonutirdan or a Buddhi-t it wmild no doubt, have been all nyht. But '•he was a Catholic and made no secret ot hvr l.ehct That of cour-e uas a different matter altogether, here was a sin that could not I),' forgiven Well, there are different d' gms ot intolerance. There me intolerant people who. when they have det^imiiud to do a h ir-h deed such as the dismissal of Miss Ilayner. do it in a straightforward way. But the committee of the Bruintroc Jlo-pital are not ot that kind. They held a Council ot Wir :i gainst this Catholic lady, and instead of U'llinir her in an honour .bk- way, • We dismis, you simply because you are a CUthohc ' , they merely tiled to cover their mtok-ra-nv by thiowin- out iii) insinuation gainst the neighbouring Cm\ont. They t, r a\ c her notice, "As iv eonstqui nee of the t.i tor the Roman' Catholic Convent bciny s 0 nrir ihu Ho-pitjl, the Committee deem it miwHu for the Hospital to be lc ( t m the sole charge of a Roman Catholic'; and then they adurtwd lor another nurse — "not a Roman Catholic. This conduct is cov,.ndly as well as unfair, and as fruch it is denounced by Father Bede in 'the local Pro-*. He is making a tight lor justice, and we tru-t he will be well -upported. It is monstrous that an institution whi.Ji appeals for -upport to Catholics and niembeisof e\ i ty other creed should be managed by tin 1 Conunittee in a spirit of intolerant sectarianism.