The Catholic World.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume 23, Issue 47, 23 November 1899, Page 27

The Catholic World.

ASIA.— The Church in the Straits Settlements —l am indebted (writes the Very Rev. Dr. Casartelli in the Weekly Register) to a friend for the following interesting passages from the letter of a young Englishman, a convert, who has lately settled at Singapore, the capital of the Straits Settlements and the See of the Catholic Bishop of Malacca, Monsignor Fee, of the Paris Society of Foreign Missions, whose diocese embraces the whole Malay Peninsula : — ' There is a great deal in the position of the Church here that is encouraging to anyone. In the first place, the numbers are very large, all the Eurasian population, a large number of Chinese, and some Indians, and I daresay some, though not many, Malays. Of them all the Chinese are, to my thinking, far the most satisfactory. The Eurasians are an incompetent, feckless race in the ordinary affairs of life, and the Indians, when one considers how long tLey have been Christian, do not seem to make much progress either in uumbers or anything else. But a large congregation of Chinamen, all attentive, and with a high average of intelligence in their faces, is a fine sight. The Chinaman with his extraordinary industry and FObriety, and in particular bis deopseated filial devotion, has the makings of a thorough Catholic. What is more, the Chinese adopt Catholicity without ceasing to be Chinese or mimicking European ways. I find many little native shops, where nothing hut Chinese is spoken, and where native food and native dress prevail, but where the whole family regularly goes to Mass. The Chinese are in a large majority here, so I seem to live practically in China and to know more of them than of other Orientals. From my experience of them, and I know some pretty well, I should be inclined to think that the Church will presently make great progress in China.' ENGLAND.— The 'Times' and The Catholic Church — The editor cf a great pap er cannot afford to make great mistakes. If he does bo (says the Cathol ic Times), he is likely to damage irreparably the reputation of the journal he conducts. The editor of the Times committed a bad blunder when he became the leading instrument of a conspiracy against Mr. Parnell, and its results he can never wholly remove. Is he not again egregiously and dangerously blundering when he reduces the Tunes to the level of the Bock and allows it to be made the vehicle for all sorts of maunderings and ravings against the Catholic Church ? He is, no doubt, misled by the notion that he can act now as the editor of the Times acted in former days.

But that is not so. Fifty years ago he would not have lost respect by publishing attacks on the Catholic Church, however bitter and nonsensical. In England ignorance of its doctrines and practice was then without limit, and it was an accepted maxim that every kind of opposition to Rome was justifiable. Within the halfcentury, however, there has been not a little progress, moral as wi 11 as educational, and the judgment of the public even when the Catholic Church is in question is far fairer and more sober. An editor may. it is true, fill his columns with the productions of callow and crazy bigots, and may for the moment imagine that he bad the public with him, but later ha has to reckon with the muss of thoughtful opinion, and he cannot escape the contempt which he deserves. Without the least consciousness of prejudice or ill-feeling, we hold that the anti-Catholic policy of the editor of the Time* is bringing.discredit on that journel. Cardinal Vaughan and The Transvaal TroubleCardinal Vaughan, preaching at the Pro-Cathedral, Kensington, on the last Sunday in October, referred to the Transvaal crisis. The question of war, he said, was still trembling in the balance, and great responsibility rested upon those deputed to safeguard the welfare of the English nation. An unjust or unnecessary war would be a great national crime deserving of Divine chastisement, because it would be an offence against God and mankind- Realising the awful ness of war, the various Catholic churches in London were that day offering up prayers to the Almighty that light, strength, and courage be given to those responsible for the interests of the nation, that they might do what was right and just. The New Westminster Cathedral —Now that the Catholic Cathedral in course of erection at Westminster (says a Home exchange) has been carried roof -high, the general body of the structure and the character and magnitude of the building are discernible from the streets surrounding the site. The striking outlines of the huge Byzantine building are consequently attracting much notice, and when the Cathedral is complete it will be one of the sights of the metropolis. Completion, in the sense which will imply the fulfilment of the aspirations of Cardinal Vaughan and those who share with him the burden of this enormous undertaking, must necessarily be in the somewhat remote future ; but it is anticipated that the building itself, apart from the elaborate ornamentation that is contemplated, will be finished a year hence, so that it may be opened for worship on September 29, 1900 — the golden jubilee of the Catholic hierarchy in England. The roofing has been begun, and will probably be completed by the end of the year. Some of the minarets and domes are almost finished, and the