The Catholic World.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXVII, Issue 27, 6 July 1899, Page 31

The Catholic World.

INDIA.— The Archdiocese of Pondicherry.— We are informed (says the Madras Catholic Watchman) that the Archdiocese of Pondicherry has been divided, and that Kumbakoßum has been made an Episcopal See. The zeal of missionaries belonging to the Society drs Missions Etrangeres. Paris, has made Pondicherry, the largest diocese in British India. Its extent is enormous and itp Christian population the greatest, except Goa. There are in the present Archdiocese 200,9 a!) Catholics ; V~> European and 11 Nntive prieetß. We can well understand that his Grace Dr. Gandy received the news from Rome with genuine satisfaction, since the new arrangement will relieve him of much labour and anxiety, and also because the multiplication of active working- centres must tend to the extension of missionary work and the glory of God. SCOTLAND —Marriage of a Distinguished Convert — The marriage of Mr. Alexander Blackburn, Bon of Professor Blackburn, of Roshven, with Esther Johanna Marie McLaren, was solemnised recently in St. Agnes's Chapel, Glening, Inverness-Bhire, by the Most Rev. Archbishop Macdonald. The bride is a daughter of Lord McLaren, one of the Judges of the Court of Session in Edinburgh (says the Catholic Herald), and has recently joined the Catholic Church. Her uncle is a prominent figure on platforms at Presbyterian meetings in the Scottish Metropolis. Her grandfather was Lord Provost of the city for a number of years, and was afterwards a member of Parliament for one of the divisions of Edinburgh for a long time. He married a sister of the famous John Bright, so that the distinguished convert is related both to the Presbyterian McLarens of Ednburgh and the Quaker Brights of Roohdale. Proposed Pilgrimage to LourdeS— The Jin dc sieclt pilgrimage from Scotland to Lourdes is to start from Edinburgh on September 4. A meeting of the Committee, composed of priests from all parts of the country, was held in Edinburgh recently, j and a draft circular setting forth full particulars was approved and ordered to be made public. This is the first national Scottish pilgrimage to Lourdes. Father Alexander Stuart is secretary. UNITED STATES.-A Strike Settled by a Bishop —A dispatch from Buffalo, New York, under date May 10, states that Bishop Quiglay's mediations led to a practical settlement of the grain shovellers' strike. After hearing a speech from the Biehop, tha strikers appointed a committee to arrange a settlement with the Lake Carriers' Association, the terms of which they had previously rejected. Bishop Quigley's appearance at the shovellers' meeting was the signal for a remarkable demonstration. The men tossed their hats into the air and cheered vociferously, and, more important than all, accepted his advice. j A Bequest to St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York.— The late Mrs. M. A. Kelly, widow of Mr. Eugene Kelly, the well known banker, bequeathed £40,000 for the building of a Lady Chapel in St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York. Death of Bishop Watterson, of Ohio— The death is announced of Bishop Watterson, of Columbus, Ohio, ■who, although he was only .VJ years of age, had been a bit-hop for nineteen years. It is seldom that a man so young is called to this hljjh office. Archbishop Corrigan, it is true, was but thirty-three when ho was consecrated Bishop of Newark ; the late Bishop Dwenger, of Fort Wayne, was but thirty-four at the time of his consecration; while in the early part of the present century we have the brief record of the holy life of Bishop de Neckere, of New Orleans, who was appointed at the early age of twenty-nine, and died in ifc.iS, three years after his consecration. But these are exceptions : and the burdensome office of a bishop has been more frequently imposed on men nearing the age at which Bishop Watterson laid it down forever.

A New Oathedral For New York —Bishop Wi^er was to lay the corner-stone of New York's new Oathedral on June 4. This church will cost about a quarter of a million sterling, and it will have the distinction of possessing what is laid to be the biggest corner-stone ever put under a church in the United States, one weighing 30 tons. It is expected that the cathedral will be completed in two years, if some now unforseen contingency does not arise in the meantime. A Relic of Bigotry— The most interesting religious erent of the year at Harvard University occurred recently in Appleton Chapel. It *as the annual delivery of the ' Dudleian lecture,' famous because its founder desired for ever to have violent denunciations uttered against the Catholic Church. Prof. Charles C. Everett, Dean of the Harvard Divinity School, was notable and will be famous because he dared to break away from the old traditions, openly announcing that he could not follow them. He even went so far as to suggest the abolition of the lectureships. His Holiness Blesses the Paulist Fathers-— ln the April calendar, published by the Paulist Fathers of New York, is the following :—ln: — In answer to the dutiful and spontaneous letter which the Paulist Fathers sent to Leo Xlll. on the publication of his letter to Cardinal Gibbons, we have received, through our beloved archbishop, Most Rev. Michael A. Corrigan, the following blessing from his Holiness. Such a blessing from Buch a holy source brings peace and joy to our hearts on this Easter morn : — ' Very Rev. Dear Father Deßhon : I have the pleasure of saying that Cardinal Rampolla writes me that immediately on the receipt of my letter, inolosing yonrs to Leo XIII., the Cardinal hastened to present the document to the Holy Father, who manifested his special satisfaction and pleasure, and charged the Cardinal to thank the fathers for their respectful (ossequiosa) protest, and to add that he gives to all of them, with all his heart, the apostolic benediction. I am, dear Father Deshon, very faithfully yours, — M. A. Corrigan, Arohbishop.' Incendiarism in New Orleans.— A despatch from New j Orleans, under date, April 6, states that great excitement prevailed iv Catholic circles there over fires in Catholic institutions, mainly asylums. There had been five incendiary fires in Catholic institutions in two weeks. With one exception, that of St. Patrick's Church, all th^se fires were in asylums. Two other asylums were broken into, but the incendiaries were frightened off before any harm was done. While no evidence was obtained as to who were the perpetrators of these outrages, it was found that the fires had been started by two men. These were seen on several occasions, and at the Convent of the Sacred Heart were chased some distance but not caught. The children of the Mount Carmel Asylum were playing in the courtyard one night when two men wearing black masks entered. There was a panic and the police were notified and the two men escaped. The Mayor, Chief of Police and Chief of the Fire Department, after thorough investigation, were convinced that the recent fires had been started by two men, possibly religious fanatics. The Mayor has offered a liberal reward for the capture of the men, and the police had been warned to be on the look out for them. VENEZUELA —Priests and Nuns attend Small-pox Patients — We have not all the priest and nun heroes in the United States (says the Southern Messenger), La Revhta Cattolico records that, for the space of seven months, during the small-pox pest at Valencia, in Venezuela, the Rev. Beguetti and a number of Salesian i Sisters confined themselves within the walls of the Lazaretto, ; j ministering to the sick and dying. At the conclusion of their i work, the priest and the Sisters returned to their respective houses. ; On their entrance to the city they were met by a great concourse of i people — the civil officers, priests, and Sisters of various communities, ; who took this means of testifying to their Christian heroism ; the » band of the Salcsian College played a triumphal march, and after* I ward assisted at a great Te Deum in gratitude for their deliverance i from the pest. It is no wonder that Catholic countries remain Catholic.