The Catholic World.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXVII, Issue 9, 2 March 1899, Page 27

The Catholic World.

AFRICA.— A Hospital for Lepers.— The Fathers of the African Missions, Lyons, have erected a leper hospital near the great ne^ro town in the Vicariate Apostolic of Benin. The poor creatures w*ere quite astonished at the kindness and care bestowed on them A young lady, Louisa Rodriguez goes every alternate day to teach them the Catechism, and helps them in other ways. One of the Fathers writes that as soon as she heard that he was in search of helpers she offered her services, to be given gratuitously. She is highly accomplished, speaking several languages. 'No mother could take more interest in her children than does Louisa Rodriguez in the lepers,' writes Pere Coquard. Here is an example (say« the Catholic Hi raid) for Catholic young ladies elsewhere ! How often could we render little .services of love and charity to the sick and suffering in our hospitals and infirmaries and workhouses ' Strange Proceedings of a Sierra Leone Official.— in a Sierra Leone paper the Catholic Tivics finds particulars of an official act so grotesque that it is difficult to credit it. It appears that 'a considerable number of prisoners at Sherbro" gaol had been tenced to death, and as it happened that some Catholics were amongst them, n Catholic priest applied for permission to attend the condemned Citholics in the prison. What is the reply of Mr T S Aldridge, the District Commissioner? Here it is 'i Lave the honour to inform yon that as the matter ha-, Leon oificially brought to the notice of the Right Rev the Bishop of Sierra Leone. 1 thTnk it i- desirable that the whole question "-hould be referred to his Lordship by yn-i.' In other words the C-itholic priest is told to a-k the Anglican Bi-hop to be allowed to visit the Catholic pri-onei-T Commissioner Aldrid^e lisa written to the priest saying thai he has ieque->tfd instructions for future »uiduiico from the Colonial Krcretaiy. He sadly needs then, and caunct get them too soun. CANADA.— A Prohibition Against Bazaars. — Archbishop Paul Bruehe'i, Catholic Archbishop of Montreal, lias issued a mandate forbidding the holding of bazaars for any purpose" whatever. He also cautions the French-Canadian papers against nub lishing pictures of murders and murderers, and urges them to confine" themselves to the barest outlined of the cat>e. ° DENMARK.— The Catholic Population.— The Apostolic Vicariate of Denmark contains 7 ( Jif> Catholics. The priests num ber 21. ENGLAND.— Presentation to the Bishop of Newport — On the occasion of the r-ilver Jubilee of the Right Rev BiphoD Hedley, of Newport, he was the recipient of addresses from lm chapter and the clergy. Au address and a presentation of £iuoo from the laity took place later on. The project was initiated by Colonel Vaughan, of Courttield, Count Bodenham Lubieuslu o f Bullingham Manor, and Mr. Henry Hey wood. J.P., o f WillaCourt Amongst those who contributed may be mentioned Cardinal

Vaugban, the Duke of Xorfolk, the Marquis of Bute, the Marquis of Ripon, the Earl of Gainsborough. Lord Arunrlell of Wardour, the Dowaper Counter of Denbigh, the Baron ami Baronei-.s von Hugel, Lord Bra,>e. L\dy Hub rt. Lord Clifford, Sir 11. IJ.dnngh.iin, Lady Grattan Uellew, an<] Sir \V. Smyth- 3 . Protentants also gltdly availed themselves of this opportunity of their lvgnrd for the personal character and eminent abilities of Bishop Tlc.ilcy. and Lord Tredegar and Mr. Ali'rod Thorna*, M.P., appeared in the long list of oontribut >rs. The Progress of the Church.— The catholic 'hm<^ has the following — Tin A.. 7 , iites that d'lrirg 'he pa-t yor tTW.itholir Church has lost ground in foreign countries (of which our old friend the cditui know* little or rr thing"), but admit* that it h*« been making progress in this coun'ry (or which he knows something). The Queen and Monsignor Stonor— The Queen has pent a splendid ring to Morisign- r Stonor in recognition of his services to the British Catholics at Rome. The ring was presented to Monsignor Stonor by Sir Philip Curriej, who gave a reception at the Embassy in honour of the occasion, which was attended by a number of members of the Papal Court. | Catholic Progress in Manchester.— His Lord-hip the Bishop of Salford, speaking at Manchester some few weeks ago, referred to the projjre-s which had been marie in the dioce&e, and mentioned that on the Monday before Christmas he had administered Confirmation to 7<n) people, of wrom l.">() were converts. That, the Bishop said. ' was an answer to tho-e standing ia a high ecclesiastical position who had ventured to make the statement thnt they (the Catholics) were required to receive the doctrines of the Church, but were not permitted to examine them.' Death of Monsignor Twomey.— The Bight lto. Mgr Twomey, Catholic Chaplain at Aldershot, died on Thursday nightJanuary ."). During the evening he was present at a children's Christmas gathering and seemed in better healih than of late. When his servant went to call him on Friday morning he made no answer and was found dead. The cause of death was said to be aneurism of the heart. Mgr. Twomey went to Aldershot from Gosport a few months before his death, and was exceedingly popular throughout the army. He was born in 1813 and became an army chaplain in I.S7X. In ISNS he attained the rank of major, in 1,593 he was ga/.etted lieutenant-colonel, and last year was promoted to first clash of chaplains to the forces with the rank of colonel. The remains were taken to Ireland, and reached Macroom on Sunday, January 8. On the following Tuesday a Requiem Mass was celebrated in the church there, after which the interment took place. "' IRELAND.— Ordinations in Cork— ln the Franciscan Capuchin Church, Charlotte Quay, Cork, on Sunday, January 8, the Most Rev. Dr. O'Callaghan. Bishop of Cork, conferred the sacred order of priesthood on six joung gentlemen, five of whom are of the Capuchin Order in li eland. The newly-ovdained are— Rev. Father Goold. Cork : Rev Father Benedict, Graigue, County Kilkenny ; Rev. Father John. Sheas-ton. County Kilkenny ; Rev. Father Damascene. County Gal way . Kcv. Father Alphon*-us, Ballyhooly. County Ci rk : and Roy 1 at hi r Bei ig-nis, P.iulstown, Ci unty Kilkenny. PORTUGAL.— Irish Dominicans in Lisbon.— A large ba/.aar was held rectnlly in Lisbon for the puipose of obtaining funds to no tow aid- de Im} in^ tho c xpen-e- of repairing and completing tl r cliuuii <> f tin 1 College ol t lie* Corpo Santo .it Lisbon, which was foundtd by an lush I>on inn an. and is -till chielly served by [rMi member- of tb.it Oiihr, The Poitngue^ Itoyal Family took great inter* st m the ba/'iar, and L tdy Macdoneil and her daughter, as well as other members of the 1) ploniatic Corps, had a stall. ROME--The Health of the Pope— The Pope (says the ( atholtc 'hums*), wlio ha- outlived the other strand old men of the century, such as Mr. Gladstone and liismare-k, lias si en the old year out in wonderfully good health. Though he is fast approaching his eighty-ninth birthday, nil accounts from Rome agree as to his mental and bodily vigour. He ri«es ca'lyas usual, goes through his correspondence, holds audiences, writes important documents, directs the affairs of the Church with a complete appreciation of every problem that arises and takes an interest in every important public movement. Few men twenty years younger could get through the woik that he porf<im« Yet, with all the claims upon his time, he turns out Latin ver-c- which evince a degree of elegance approaching that ot the classical Latin authors. There is every reason to hope that he will survive tole^ael the rejoicings and to lend force to the movement tor honouring Our Lord on the advent of the new centuiy. His Holiness and the Disarmament Proposals.— When receiving the Russian Miniver to the Vatican some time ago. the Holy Father expivs^d to him again his sympathy with the proposal for disarmament, lie is reported to have said that in his opinion the best moan*- of guaranteeing European peace would be the establishment of a permanent Committee of Arbitration. It is stated that Russia is favourable to this idea, and that the establishment of such a committee \\Vl tiguie on the programme of the Conference. Electric Light at the Vatican.— it is reported that trials of electric lighting ha\e bi on made at the Vatican, notably in the Raphael galle'ric-. The whole' of the Vatican will be lighted by nlcctricity in a short tin c. This is bdng done by special desire of the Pope. The Vatican and the Italian Government— The Vatican correspondent of the '/'inn* has been fully authorised to telegraph to his journal a denial of the statement that any efforts at ' reconciliation ' between the Italian State and the Holy See have lately taken place. No change in the policy of the Holy See is contem-

SCOTLAND— The Scottish Historical Society Seeks Information- — The Scottish History Society has determined to apply to the Vatican to furnish infi.rmaHon regarding the Papal embassies to Queen Mary and her mother, the Regent, in order to elucidate the history of the Reformation in Scotland. That they have in the large field of research stt aside their prejudices so far as to entrust this task to a Jesuit shows how fraternal the pursuit of knowledge makes men, transforming them from the enemies into the friends of those they formerly distrusted. A Venerable Priest Honoured by the Pope— His Holiness the lVp3 has thought well to honour in his retirement and old age one of the oldest prests in Scotland with, the title of Monsignor. Monoigaor Clapperton, the rec pieat of the honour, is now in his pighty fifih year and lives in Fochabers, where he is respected by all as a venerable priest and gentleman. The Monsignor's two brothers, who grace the ranks of the priesthood, are well known throughout Scotland — namely, l>ean Ciapperton, who lives retired in Buckie, Iho scene of his labours for forty years, and who has been intimately associated with the financial administration of the diocese, and Monsignor CUpp'rton, V.G., of St. Andrews, Dundee. Moreover, one half-brother was a priest and t^o half-sisters entered the Ursulire Order, each in her turn becoming superioress of St. Maigarrt's Boarding School, Edinburgh. Monsignor Clapperton's father lived to the ripe old age of ninety-five. SYRIA-— Lost Sheep Brought Back to the Fold--Eng-li^h Protestant missionaries, by pecuniary means, recently induced about three hundred Catholic workmen at Aleppo to become Protestants. This, writes a correspondent of the Catholic Times, occurred in the absence of Mgr. Geha. When his Grace returned to Aleppo, he devoted all his attention to the task of bringing back the lost sheep within the Catholic fold. He has succeeded so well that all those who w r ere perverted have come to his Grace asking him to pardon and restore them to the Church. UNITED STATES— A Generous Donegal Man.— Mr. James Gaffney, who died in the United States on November 2-t, has bequeathed over £2000 to the cause of religion. He has left £200 to the parish priest of Inniskiel, County Donegal, in aid of the parish church. Several Catholic institutions in the States have benefited under his will. Sermons at Early Masses- — Archbishop Corrigan has notified his priests that the rule of the Church which requires that they should preach a sermon of not less than five minutes' duration during the early Masses on Sunday must not be ignored.