The Catholic World

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXX, Issue 43, 23 October 1902, Page 27

The Catholic World

ENGLAND.— A Memorial. The great bronze statue of St. Peter, to b» erected as a penmanent memorial to the late Rev. Luke Rivington, lias arrived at Westminster Cathedral. The statue, which us a superb example of the moulder's art, is a replica of the famous figure of the Fathen of the Apostles in St. Poter's, Rome. It is to be placed in St. Peter's Chapel, in the crypt, which is situated beneath the apsidal choir of tho Cathedral. This crypt is supported by six superb red Norwegian granite columns, each of a single block, together with four red granite piers. The carved caps ar« of pale grey marble, each varied in pattern. The crypt is complete as far as the shell is concerned, but, like the rest) of the Cathedral, it awaits the casing of its walls with marble, and the lining of its roof with mosaics. The altar, as well as a memorial to Father Rivington, is a thank offering from English converts for the blessing of the faiith. Catholicism in Lancashire. The Very Rev. Dr. Casartelli, M.A., the rector of St. Bede's College, writing to a Manchester morning paper, contradicting some mis-statements attributed to ham, gives some very interesting figures concerning the Catholic population of Lancashire. He says ' that in Manchester and Salford there are reckoned to be about 110,000 Catholics, and therefore, probably at least 200,000 in the diocese of Salford. But Lancashire also contains the diocese of Liverpool, with an estimated Catholic population of 334,300. Add this to the estimated 263,000 for Salford, and we get for all Lancashire ."597,300, or not much below 600,000 Catholics;. A Statue for Westminster Cathedral. His Eminence the Cardinal-Archbishop of Westminster has been presented by the Catholic children of Great Britain with a massive statue of the Redeemer for erection in the new Westminster Cathedral. The gift has been blessed by his Holiness the Pope, and will commemorate the beginning of the new century to be a happy remembrance fin tho old age of the donors, and a token of their love, faith, and allegiance to Christ and to Papal authority. Cardinal Vaughan will himself unveil the statue. FRANCE.— Affixing the Seals The chief work of the Government now (writes a Paris correspondent) s,eems to be- the sealing up of the premises which have been occupied by religious Congregations, so as to prevent the Congregations, or those acting on their behalf, from making use of those premises before they are sold up by the official liquidator of the property of dissolved Congregations. The objections to this proceeding which have been made by companies or private persons who were bona fido owners were not without effect, for whilst the Tribunal de la Seine has ordered the official Liquidator to affix seals 'in such cases;, it has instructed him to do so in such a manner that tho uso of tho premises is not to be interfered with. As a matter of fact, the official liquidator has generally contented himself with making an inventory of the premises and of tho removable property thereon, and with affixing, seals only to that part of the .removable property which belonged to the dissolved Congregations, so as to prevent its removal. This has been the case particularly in the well known schools of the Rues De Madrid, Lhomond, and Haxo. (It would seem, however, that in tho provinces the official liquidators have not been so easy or so sensible as in Paris. Seals have been affixed wholesale, without regard to the nights of owners. In a large number of places the local Tribunals have ordered the removal of the seals, but in all such cases the Prefect, acting on instructions from Paris, has lodged an

appeal to the Conseil d'Etat, and the seals remain affixed until the latter body, which will not re-assemble before October, is sitting. Some owners have, nevertheless, broken the seals, and in various localities have "been fined, and even imprisoned, for so doing, whilst in others 1 they have been acquitted as acting withm their rights as owners. Arrangements ane made for the reopening on the Ist of October of most of the schools which have been closed, and lay-teachers ane in preat demand for such schools. An American lady, Mrs. CarterBiddle, who is the leaseholder of the premises in the Rue Monsieur which were in the occupation of the Jesuits, has refused to submit to any interference with her house, and has threatened to invoke the assistance of the American Consul-General and of the American Secretary of State if French officials in any way attempted to restrict her enjoyment of her property. She even refused to let seals be affixed to a library of some 4500 volumes belonging to the Jesuit* which were on the premises. In order to avoid complications, the official liquidator had to have the books taken away to a furniture warehouse, where they were sealed up. The Pope's Silence. We ('Catholic Times) commented a couple of weeks ago on the incredible folly of French Catholics in not, even now at the eleventh hour, trying to carry out the counsels of the Holy Father. An evidently inspired communication to the 'Univers' rebukes such Catholics as, haying, failed to follow the Papal guidance, now complain that the Vatican does nothing to help them in their day of distress. As a matter of fact, the Vatican has done everything in its power, and the letter of the Holy Father to Cardinal Richard was quite sufficient to show the Pope's mind and interest in regard to the persecution now desolating the French Church. And besides, as this communication points out, at is intolerable that any Catholic, or any number of Catholics, Bhould presume to dictate to the Pope either the time or the manner in which he shall intervene. Let them, 'instead of complaining, begin to put into effect the advice they have already received. ' They should guard themselves carefully from playing into the hands of the Jacobiins, and, attaching themselves loyally to the Republic, abandon, all chimerical hopes of a change in the political constitution of the country.' This advice we have )?iven all along, and every week confirms the value of it. By hanging loose from the Republic, the Catholics have led indifferent observers to conclude that they were not loyal to the accepted regime — an opinion which the Ministry has been quick to foster and spread. At this time of day. that Catholic must be blind who thinks to find the only asylum for the Faith on the steps of a throne. The Church can stand qq u ite firmly on her own feet, supported by the doctrines and sacraments she teaches and delivers. In France, at thus hour, hep servitude proves her weakness ; her regained freedom will display her strength, which ever renews itself like the eagle's. An English View. Regarding the persecution of the religious Orders, a welMnform'ed wr-iter in the London ' Pilot ' points to the significance of the action of the Departmental Councils. 'It is very rare,' says the writes, ' for these bodies to begin their sessions with anything but a perfunctory address of congratulation to the existing Government. On this occasion the perfunctory address was carried only by

47 of the 89 councils), and often by a very small majority of the members present. Over 20 dissentients actually took the unprecedented step of attacking the decrees, though it is expressly laid down in the Code that national politics may not form a subject of their debates, and though the votes of these somewhat unimportant bodies were taken under the eye and often at the request of the local representative of the Government. When it is observed that Paris, which is a strongly Nationalist majority, is not counted in the general voice of these Councils, the ffrave significance of such protests as were raised is further apparent.' The writer further points out the very slender hold of the Combes regime upon the country. The weakness of M. Combes is best appreciated in the light of the statistics of the last general elections. 'No one with the least knowledge of the French people will pretend that those elections turned upon the one isßue of the Associations Bill—though even if they had, the Premier had pledged hds word that the Bill should not affect these schools. They turned upon a number of local considerations, and— mono broadly upon the question whether a constituency was, on the whole, content or malcontent with the present regime Even so, the large majority which M. Combes commands in the Chamber represents !but two per cent, majority of the full voting power of the country. It is literally a case of the 51 governing the 49 ; and the deadlock of the present state of affairs proceeds from the fact that only a very few of the 51 care to persecute, while all the 49 (and many of the 51 as well) are determined to have their girls properly trained in religious schools.' GERMANY.— Catholics in Congress. The 49th German Catholic Congress, held recently at Mannhaim, under the presidency of Dr. Caraduns, editor of the ' Kolnische Volkszeitung,' was attended by the success which usually accompanies meetings of German Catholics. The proceedings (says the ' Catholic Times ') were eminently practical. All the leading subjects affecting the interests of Catholics in Germany and throughout Europe were freely discussed. The labor question received special attention. What the German Catholics have ibeen doing for the working classes, was proved by -the report of Dr. Pieper, secretary of the ' Volksverein, 1 or 'People's Association. Last year the organisation numbered 185,011 members, and possessed branches in all parts of the German States. Not merely were systematic lectures delivered to the members on the best solution of labor problems), , but there were also courses of apologetic lectures, whereby instruction was given for defence against attacks on the Church. Upon the present European campaign against the Church Dr. Bachem delivered a noteworthy speech at the first general meeting. Education he remarked, was fatal to the efforts of the enemies of the Church. The educated Catholic, when they pointed to dark spots in ecclesiastical history, replied that he was aware of the existence of those spots, but that he also knew they also served to bring out by contrast the grandeur of the whole picture. In like manner when they found fault with thiis or that rule or maxim he reminded them that a little weakness here and there did not interfere with the ground principles and the Catholic moral teacWing as a whole was the grandest and noblest in the world because the dogmas rest on Divine Revelation Cordial messages passed between the Congress and the Pope, the Emperor and the Archduke of Baden

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