HIS GRACE ARCHBISHOP REDWOOD.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXVII, Issue 18, 30 March 1899, Page 4

HIS GRACE ARCHBISHOP REDWOOD.

His Grace Archbishop Redwood celebrated his Episcopal Silver Jubilee on St. Patrick's Day, he having- been ordained a Bishop by the late Cardinal Manning in St. Anne's Church, London, on March 17, 187 L On Monday his Grace celebrated a Mass of Thanksgiving in St. Joseph's Church, Buckle street, and was assisted by the Rev. Father Hills, S.M., as deacon, the Rev. Father O'Reilly, S.M., as subdeacon, and the Very Rev. Father Devoy, S.M., V.G., as assistant priest. The Rev. Father Herbert, S.M., was master of ceremonies, and about twenty local and visiting priests were present. The choir, under Mr. M. C. Rowe, sang Mozart's Seventh Mass, the solos being taken by Misses Hickling and Rigg, Messrs. Rowe and Girling Butcher. Mr. Ennis presided at the organ. In the evening his Grace was entertained in the schoolroom by the pupils of St. Mary's Convent, several of the visitiDg priests being included in a large audience. Several instrumental and vocal items were rendered in a manner which reflected the greatest credit on the performers and their teachers. ' I will extol Thee ' and ' Damon,' sung by Miss Long, were especially good. An Irish jig and a sketch, entitled ' La Lettre Char gee ' completed a good programme. During the evening Ms Grace was made the recipient of a silver salver and skillet, each of the eggs in the skillet being filled with sovereigns, in commemoration of the occasion. After thanking them for their present and congratulating the performers on their proficiency, his Grace obtained for the pupils five days' holiday, to be given at intervals. PRESENTATION BY THE CLERGY. A banquet by the priests of the archdiocese was given to the Archbishop in St. Patrick's Hall on Tuesday evening. The Very Rev. Father Devoy, S.M., V.G., was in the chair, and the Rev. Father McKenna in the vice-chair. His Lordship Bishop Grimes, of Christchurch, was also present. The Rev. Father Lewis (hon. secretary of the committee) read congratulatory letters and telegrams from all parts of Australia, one of the latter being from his Eminence Cardinal Moran, and the following address :—: — Address to his Grace Archbishop Redwood on the occasion of his silver jubilee, March 17, 1K)5). May it please your Grace, — We, the representatives of the priests of the archdiocese, assembled here this evening, heartily congratulate your Grace on the happy occasion of your silver jubiie". It is now twenty-five years since. at the command ot the Holy Soe, you undertook the arduous, high and holy ollice of the episcopate in this fair young land of New Zealand, and were consecrated in St. Anne's Church, London, on the fea«t of the glorious Apostle of Ireland. Since that time you have performed the duties of your exalted position with great zeal and success in the portion of the Lord's vineyard committed to your care. Your devoted priests of the archdiocese, together with the priests of that part of New Zealand which formerly belonged to Wellington diocese, and al^-o your friends amongst the hierarchy and the priests of New -Zealand au 1 Australia, rejoice to see you, after so many years of episcopal labours, enjoying excellent health. During the past twenty-five years the Church in New Zealand has made wonderful strides, owing chiefly to the zeal and devotedness of its learned and saintly prelates and pastors, many of whom have passed away to their otuual reward, and the distinguished prelates who, with your Grace, now rule the destinies of Holy Church, are working with the same zeal and success for' the glory of God and the good ot souls committed to their care. The important position which the Church has attained in this young country has been demonstrated in a mo^t marked manner Vjy the holding of the first Provincial Council, which has just taken j place, under the presidency of your Grace, on the eve. we may say, of your Grace's silver jubilee. It must have been a great pleasure to you to have seen for so many years the rapid growth of the Church in thi-* Colony, and the flourishing state of its religious institutions. The destruction of St. Mary b Cathedral, an edifice so full of fond and sacred memoiies, casts a passing gloom over the archdiocese ; but the devotedness and marvellous liberality of your priests and people and of your friends 'amongst the hierarchy, priests and people in other dioceses, will, with the blessing- of Divine Providence, soon rear up an edifice more lasting and more in keeping with the progress of our holy religion and the wants of the people in ,this metropolitan city. In conclusion we ask your Grace to accept this pyrse of sovereigns — the spontaneous gi)t of the priests of the archdiocese, augmented by liberal subscriptions from your many friends amongst the prelates and priests of other dioceses, and from many religious institutions in and outside the archdiocese. Wishing your Grace many years to come of health and happiness, we beg to subscribe ourselves on behalf of the priests. T. Devoy, S.M., V.G., chairman; W. J. Mahoney, SM. ; John McKenna, P.L*. . Felix Waters, S.M. ; Y. Lane, P.P. ; W. J. Lewis, S.M., hon. sec. The very rev. chairman presented his Grace with the address and a purse containing upwards of 300 sovereigns.

His Grace thanked them for the presentation, and in concluding an excellent speech, expressed the pleasure it gave him to bestow the following titles upon priests under Mb charge : — The Very Rev. Father Walsh, of Westport, was raised to the dignity of Venerable Archpriest Walsh ; and tbe Very Rev. Father Devoy, S.M., V.G., to be henceforth the Venerable Archdeacon Devoy ; the Very Rev. Fathers Roland (Reefton), Binsfeld (Meanee), Kirk (Wanganui), Mahoney (Nelson), Gro?an (Napier), John McKenna (Masterton), James McKenna (New Plymouth), to be dignified by the titles of ' Very Rev. Dean.' The Rev. Father Lewis, of Wellington, and Smyth, of Hastings, are now to be designated ' Very Rev.' On his Grace's invitation the clergy journeyed on Thursday to Seatoun, where a most enjoyable day was spent. The Venerable Archdeacon Devoy has had a lovely little cottage erected on Borne church property at this favourite resort. SOME PARTICULARS OF HIS LIFE. His Grace the Most Rev. Francis Redwood, S.M.. Archbishop of Wellington, and Metropolitan of New Zealand, was born at Stafford in England, on the Bth April, 1839, and at the age of three years was brought by his parents to New Zealand. The family after a short time settled in Nelson, where it continues to hold a high character for affluence and intelligence. When the late Father Gavin began his missionary work at Nelson in 1850, the future Archbishop of Wellington was among the first who entered his school, and expressed a desire to embrace the ecclesiastical state. On the Bth December, 185-4, the very day of the definition of the Immaculate Conception, he bid farewell to his family and. to New Zealand (we are now quoting from his Eminence Cardinal Moran's History of the Catholic Church in Australasia). He spent Christmas Day at St. Mary's Cathedral, Sydney, entranced with the grandeur of the ceremonial, and the joyous celebration of the great feast. He pursued his studies with distinction at the Marist College of St. Mary's at St. diamond, in the diocese of Lyons. He made his profession in the Society of Mary on the Cth January, 1864, and subsequently taught philosophy and theology to the scholastics of the Order in Ireland. Mon seigneur Viard (then Bishop of Wellington) had asked the Holy See to appoint him Coadjutor, but died before any appointment was made. During the vacancy of the See tbe Right Rev. Dr. Moran, Bishop of Dunedin, at the request of the propaganda, acted as Administrator of the Diocese, and for the greater part of 15 months had an Episcopal visitation throughout every district of this vast territory. Dr. Redwood's Brief of appointment was dated Bth February, 1874 ; he was consecrated Bishop on the following feast of St. Patrick in the Church of St. Anne, at Spitalfields, London, by Archbishop Manning, assisted by the Bishops of Birmingham and Southwark. He arrived in Wellington on the 2Gth November, 1874, and was welcomed with great enthusiasm by the clergy and laity. When at the plenary Synod of Australasia, held in Sydney in 1885, the hierarchy was established in New Zealand. Wellington became the Archiepiscopal See, and the Pallium was solemnly conferred on the Archbishop in the Cathedral of Wellington by Bishop Luck, of Auckland, on Sunday, August 28, 1887. Two special works in Wellington (continues Cardinal Moran) have been crowned with success, and have contributed not a little to the progress of religion during the Episcopate of Dr. Kedwood. These are St. Patrick's College and St. Mary's Convent of Mercy. For many years it was the most fervent wish of Archbishop Redwood and the Marist Fathers to see the dawn of the day in which they would be able to found a College of the Society of Mary in Wellington, to procure for the youths of the diocese of all New Zealand a superior and classical education, and so fit them for every state of life, and even tor the priesthood, at least, those who would be blessed with a true vocation. After years of serious reflection and prayer, his Grace made known his determination to establish the long-wished-for institution by a pastoral letter addressed to the clergy and laity of the diocese of Wellington, showing: forcibly and eloquently its great advantages. He fervently exhorted every one to do all in his power to promote this important undertnking, which would have such a powerful influence for the spiritual and temporal welfare of the future Catholic generation in this country. The Very Rev. Father Le Menant des Chesnais and the Rev. Father Devoy were appointed collectors. They discharged their arduous duties zealously, and succeeded beyond expectation ; the generosity of the pastors answered their calls in a truly Catholic and liberal spirit. As the College was to be placeu under the patronage of St. Patrick, the great and glorious patron of Ireland, the first stone was blessed by his Lordship Bishop Redwood, in the presence of their Lordships the Bishops of Dunedin and Auckland, on Sunday, March IG, 1884. The buildings rapidly progressed, and the new College was solemnly blessed on the occasion of the visit of the Cardinal Archbishop of Sydney and several other prelates on February 21, I*Bo. Jt has already won for itself the foremost place among the institutions for the higher education of young men in New Zealand. St. Mary's Convent was a branch house from Auckland, but from the outset was beset with many difficulties. Three Sisters of Mercy from Melbourne came to its aid during the administration of Dr. Moran in 1N7:5. New life was infused into it in 187G when, with the approval of the Bishop, the Superior proceeded to the home countries in search of novices and funds. She returned, after a two years' pilgrimage, in IS7B, accompanied by sixteen aspirants to the religious life, and enriched with two thousand pounds. Nr^w buildings have been since erected, and education for the orphans and all classes of the community flourishes there in its various branches. The whole group of Convent Bchools and orphanage is one that would reflect credit on many of the old cities ot the home countries. Among other works carried out during the Episcopate ot his Grace was the completion of St. Mary's Cathedral, which had been erected by Bishop Viard m 18UG. The Cathedral was destroyed by fire on November :50th of last year, and his Grace, the clergy and

the faithful of the archdiocese, are now raising funds for the purpose of erecting a church on its site, and building a Cathedral in another part of the city of Wellington worthy of themselves, worthy of the Catholic faith, and worthy of the metropolis of this Colony.