The Catholic World.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXIX, Issue 22, 30 May 1901, Page 24

The Catholic World.

CANADA— Death of a Venerable Bishop.— Right ßer. John Sweeney, D.D., Bishop of St. John, N. 8., and dean of the Catholic hierarchy in Canada, is dead. He was born in Clones, County Monaghan, Ireland, on May 12, 1821, and in his youth went with his parents to St. John, where he began his education at the grammar school. He commenced his ecclesiastical studies at St. Andrew's College, Prince Edward Island, and completed them at Laval University, Quebec, where he was ordained in September, 1844. On April 15, 1860, he was consecrated Bishop of St. John. He was much impressed with the benefits of the life of a farmer, and one of his works was to found the settlement of Johnville, in Carleton county. Among the institutions he founded was the Boys' Industrial School. About a year ago he applied to Rome for a coadjutor, and Rev. T. Casey, of Frederiocon, was appointed. ENGLAND.— An Ancient Ceremony— On Holy Thursday afternoon, his Eminence Cardinal Vaughan performed the ancient ceremony of washing the feet of 12 old men, a function whioh takes place annually on Maundy Thursday. The ceremony took place at the Pro-Cathedral, Kensington, and there was a large and interested congregation. Each of the 12 men at the close of the ceremony wu presented with a special gift by his Eminence. The Health of Cardinal Vaughan— l am gi&d to announce (writes a Loudon correspondent) that his Eminence Cardinal Vaughan is now enjoying better health than he has experienced for some considerable time past. His indefatigable coadjutor, Right Rev. Dr Brindle, D.5.0., has materially contributed to this gratifying result by taking from the shoulders of his Eminence bo much of wearing and arduous responsibility in the filling of public engagements and attendance at great Church functions. A Throne for the Westminster Cathedral— The latest addition to the new Westminster Cathedral is the archiepiscopal throne, which is the gift of the English Bishops to Cardinal Vaughan and the Metropolitan Cathedral It is an exact copy of the opal throne in St. John Lateran's, Rome, and ia of inlaid marble with mosaics on white marble. When in use it will be upholstered with scarlet silk cushions, according to custom. A Catholic Deputation to the King —The Catholic deputation which the King will be pleased to receive in audience (says the London Monitor, April 12) will probably wait upon the Sovereign in Low week, when all the members of the hierarchy will be assembled for their usual annual meeting at Archbishop's House. With this deputation of their Lurdshipa will be associated, for the occasion, certain members of the Catholio Union and the Catholic School Committee, among whom are the Duke of Norfolk, the Marquis of Ripon, the Earl of Denbigh, Viscount Llandaff, and Lords Herries, Clifford, Howard of Glossop, and Brampton. Up to the present time the Catholic body has not been upon the ' privileged list ' — that is say, was not among those who had acquired the right to be received by the Sovereign. Opening of a New Church in London.— A new church, with schools adjoining, was opened on the first Sunday in April at Lamb's passage, Bunhill row, London. The cost of the building has been met by part of the money realised through the sale of St. Mary's, Moorfields. The opening ceremony waa performed by Dean Fleming in the presence of a large congregation. St. Joseph's Foreign Missionary Society-— The annual report of St. Joseph's Foreign Missionary Society is exceedingly encouraging. Father Henry says : — ' To our zelators in a special manner our most grateful thanks are due. Besides their own alms they have given time and care and labor in collecting the alms of others. In our several branches in the North of England there has, thank God, been no falling off, but rather an increased zeal, resulting in moro members being enrolled, more alms-boxes given out, and consequently more money collected. This is as it should be — nor must we relax our efforts until there is a branch of St. Joseph's Missionary Zelators established in every diocese in the country.' From the statistics given it appears that in the districts of the arohdioceee of Madras, served by the Fathers of the Society, there were within the year ended with September, 1899, 882 baptisms, and that the children in the schools number 1258. In the vicariate of the Upper Nile — Uganda— there were 5654 Catholics. The baptisms numbered 3077, and there were 410 children in the schools. The number of baptisms in the Prefecture-Apostolic of Labuan and Northern Borneo was 214, and there are 259 children in the schools. In the Prefecture-Apostolio of Kafiristan and Kashmir, Northern India, there were 39 baptisms, and the number in the aohools wu

249. The Maori missions, diocese of Auckland, New Zealand, served by the Fathers of the Society, supplied 340 baptisms. Appointed Domeßtic Prelate-— The Very Rev. Canon Map" Hone, or Blackbnrn. has been raised to the dignity of Domestic Prelate by his Holiness the Pope. The brief conferring the new dignity on the popular Canon is dated 1 lth March. The Society of St. Vincent de Paul— From the annua report of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul the Catholic limn i Bi ß pleased to observe that under the presidency of the Marquis of Ripon the organisation in England not only maintains) but iuore^e.i it* strength. At the close of the year the number of c inferences was 176 (of which three are, or may be, in abeyance,), with 2,1 1.> active members (a gain of 45), and 989 honorary (a gain of 28). The number of visits paid was 120,43.5 (a gain of 7,021). In the number of active members there is a gain for the Tyne district, Birmingham, London, and Preston. The increase of 7,921 visits is attributable tc St. Patrick's Conference, Oldham, which made the large number of 15,397 ; the Brothers visit adultß and lads regularly on Sunday mornings to induce them to attend Mass. The fund of the • George Blount Memorial,' which it is proposed should lake the form of a club for boys and youths together with offices for the headquarters of the society and of the Patronage work in England, has reached the sum of £2,300. FRANCE— Sudden Death of a Preacher— a remarkable object lesson on that ' uncertain certainty ' called death, is thus given by a Paris correspondent • An oblate missionary from the Montmartre residence, Father houillard, died suddenly in the Cathedral of Nantes lately, just after he had left the pulpit. Curiously enough the missionary had been preaching a remarkable sermon on death. He had told the congregation that during his 20 years of work he saw death strike at least one inhabitant of his parish every week, and from this he deduced the necessity of preparation for the last hour. After the Bermon Father Souillard went to the Bacristy, rested for a few moments, and then re-entered the Cathedral in order to hear one of hia colleagues address the congregation. Hardly had he taken his seat when he fell to the ground. blood flowing from his mouth. Absolution was at once given by M. Leroux, one of the vicars of the Cathedral, and the missionary who may be aaid to have died at his post of labor, was carried to the presbytery a corpse. The Clergy and the Republic— On his arrival at Nice recently President Lou bet was received at the Prefecture by, among others, Monsignor Chapin, Bishop of the diocese, who in presenting the clergy of Nice to the President, declared that while safeguard-ing—-as far aa in their power lay — Christian faith and virtue in the soul of the people, the clergy endeavored to bind it to France by indissoluble ties. The Government and the Appointment of Bishops — The difficulties which were said to have arisen befween the French Government and the Vatican with regard to the appointment of Bishops, and in consequence of which nine French Bishoprics have been kept vacant for a rather long period, t-eems to have been satisfactorily settled, and the Journal Often I has gazetted the appointments. The most important vacancy was the See of Aix, left vacant by the death of the well-known Mgr. Gouthe-Soulard : it is filled by the transfer of Mgr. Bonnefoy from the See of La Rochelle. A new feature of the present nominations is the fact that two College Treasurers, Abbe Vallet, Treasurer of the Lycee Henry IV., and Abbe Bouquet, Treasurer of the Lycee St. Louis, are made Bishops. This is said to be the first time for a great many years that priests from colleges have been promoted to the Episcopal See. The parish priest of Notre Dame des Champs, in Paris, Abbe Delamaire, succeeds Mgr. Dabert in the See of Perigueux. A Holy Thursday Ceremony at Notre Dame — On Maundy Thursday (writes a Paris correspondent) the ceremony of 4 The washing of the feet ' drew numbers of people to Notre Dnme in the afternoon. The ceremony was performed by the Archbishop of Paris. The apostles on the occasion were impersonated by twelve little boys each carrying a bunch of flowers. ROME-— Reception by the Holy Father.— During th^ first week in April the Holy Father received in the Sixtine Chape a large number of distinguished visitors then in RomeAmong those favored with an audience were Right Rev. Monsignor John S. Vaughan, Rev. Kenelm Vaughan, and Right Rev. Monsignor Molloy, rector of the Catholic University of Ireland. His Holiness was in excellent health. SCOTLAND— The Objection to a Religious Census — The Glasgow Earning A'eicit, writing with regard to the objection of some religious denominations to a census of their number, says :—: — 1 It is only in Ireland that religious statistics are anywhere obtained in the British Isles. ... It may be taken that the Catholics in Glasgow would be quite willing to have themselves included in the census returns to show by documentary evidence not only how much they have increased during the last ten years, but also to make more palpable by contrast that they are not cut up into sects and sub-Beets, but remain one grand undivided religious community.' Death of an Edinburgh Priest— The death has taken plaoe at the Cathedral House, Edinburgh, of the Rev. Father MacDermott, who was attached to St. Mary's since his ordination. The event was somewhat unexpected, for although the deceased was nevef in robust health, and had been complaining from time to time, it was only within a few days of his death that anything serious was anticipated. UNITED STATES.- Catholicism in New Jersey.— The Catholic population of the State of New Jersey has increased 55 per

•ent. in the last 10 years. More than half of the avowed Christians of that State are Catholios. A Cathedral Destroyed by Fire-— St. Andrew's Catholic Cathedral, Grand Rapids, Michigan, was destroyed by fire, resulting from a stroke of lightning, on March 25. The loss is set down at £10,000, whilst the insurance amounted only to £4000. The fine organ, which cost over £2000, was ruined. The spire of the church whr struck by lightning about 10 pm on the night of the 24th, but the fire was not discovered until some hours later, when it wu beyond the control of the fire brigade. The Jubilee Of a Diocese— Archbishop Ireland has issued a circular to the clergy of the diocese of St. Paul, announcing that July 2, 1901, will be the fiftieth anniversary of the arrival in St Paul of the Right Rev. Joseph Cretin, D.D., first bishop of that See. In 50 years this dioceee his become a province with six dioceses. The golden jubilee is to be appropriately celebrated. Making a Fresh Start in Texas.— The Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word have decided to build a new infirmary at Galveston, Tex., to replace the buildings destroyed in the September storm. The cost will be about £5000. High-class Waiters— *t Washington the aged pensioners of the Little Sisters of the Poor were served at dinner on the feast of St. Joseph by the most distinguished waiters. M. Jules Cambon, the French ambassador, was a most stately master of oeremonies, and directed his staff, composed of Catholic diplomats resident in Washington, with grace and skill. Mr. E. Francis Riggs, the banker of that city, officiated aB carver, and the white-aproned diplomats and ladies of their families hurried through the busy feast with most exemplary zeal. Senor Calvo of Costa Rica, and Senor Caldron of Peru, brought their little children to assist the grown people, and these youngsters added to the happy scene. Among the ladies who assisted, and who are not connected with the diplomatic corps, were Mrs. Fred. D. Grant, Mrs. Regnifo, the Misses Leiter, the Misses Riggs, and the Misses Sheridan.