The Catholic World

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXI, Issue 36, 3 September 1903, Page 24

The Catholic World

ENGLAND. — Honoring Mgr. Nugent

The proposal to honor Monsignor Nugent by the erection of a public statue in Liverpool has been warmly taken up. A number of influential local gentlemen, both Catholic and Protestant, have taken the project in hand, and are approaching the public men of Liverpool with a view of forming a thoroughly representative committee. Ampleforth Abbey

The Abbot and community of Ampleforth Abbey, in the beautiful Vale of Mowbray, and their many friends are preparing to celebrate with much rejoicing the centenary of their arrival in England from France and of the establishment of their flourishing college. Consecration of a Church

On Monday, July 13, the church of St. Patrick, Bradford, attained its fiftieth anniversary. In honor of the event the church was solemnly consecrated by his Eminence Cardinal Logue. By dint of much labor the debt upon the fchurch has been successfully .cleared oS, most of the congregation contributing a day's wages towards the jubilee fund. Subscriptions have also been received from all parts of the world, old parishioners in -America being among the most generous. The Royal Declaration The announcement is made by the Duke of Norfolk that Lord Herries has approached the Archbishop of

Canterbury on behalf of the Catholic peers in reference to a modification of the- Royal declaration. An informal conference has taken place on the lines of the Archbishop s recent statement, that he believed it would be possible to draw up a form of declaration, which would not contain any condemnation of specific articles of the Catholic Faith. Death of an Oratorian

The English Catholics have lost a notable figure by the death of the Very Rev. Frederick Ignatius Antrobus, of the Brompton Oratory. Father Antrobus, who was 65, was the great-uncle of Sir Edmund Antrobus, Bart , the owner of Stonehenge. The deceased Oratorian was the youngest son of the second baronet, and before joining the Catholic Church had a distinguished career in the diplomatic service at Washington, St. Petersburg and Pans. He was known as a cultured and eloquent preacher, and was appointed Superior of the Oratory in succession to Father Sebastian Bowden. Father Antrobus was a brother of Mr. R. C. Antrobus, the banker and member of the London County Council. Cardinal Vangban as a Writer

A writer in the ' Athenaeum * thus appraises Cardinal Vaughan's literary ability : < Cardinal Vaughan was not a writer in the serious sense. His simplicity his singleness of purpose, his very just sense of proportion, all put their mark on his compositions. In his Pastorals both at Salford and at Westminster, in his popular manuals, and in the articles he contributed to "The Nineteenth Century " and other periodicals (including his own " Dublin Review "), he achieved a directness and adequacy of expression which many who practise the craft of letters might be allowed to envy.' The See of Westminster

A cable message received last week stated that the Right Rev. Dr. Bourne, Bishop of Southwark, had been appointed by the Propaganda to succeed the late Cardinal V.iughan as Archbishop of Westminster. Catholic Truth Society Conference The annual conference of the Catholic Truth Society of England took place during the first week in July in Liverpool. His Eminence Cardinal Logue presided at the great public meeting, which was held in St. George's Hall, when there were about 4000 persons present. The death of Cardinal Vaughan and the reported illness of Leo XIII. cast a gloom over the proceedings, with the result that the social side of the programme, for which elaborate preparations had been made, was considerably modified. A1 the opening meeting the Right Rev. Abbot Gasquet, 0 S 8., delivered an address on ' The religious troubles in France ; their origin and development.' He complained at the outset that the English press generally had been misinformed, and had kept the public in the dark as to what had actually occurred across the Channel and the real principle at issue in the struggle. He dealt uith the historical aspect of the question, and coming to recent events, remarked that these showed that little honesty and justice remained to-day in the Government of« France It had been made clear that the, suppression of the religious Orders , was merely an incident in a general campaign against the Catholic Church. Several causes had contributed to facilitate the capture of supreme power by the anti-religious party. The curse of the Church in France had been its apathy and indifference. France should be a lesson to the Catholics of England. They, too, also suffered from apathy, and did not always take their part in the life of their country, and make their influence felt when it might be of use. On the second day papers on education, social work, etc., were read by the Rev. W. F. Brown, Right Rev. Mgr. Ward, and Very Rev. Dean Billington. On the third day, ' The work of Catholic settlements,' was the subject of a paper by Lady Edmund Talbot ; ' The Catholic Girls' Protection Society,' by Miss Eyre ; and ' Catholic Boys 1 Brigades,' by Rev. F. Segesser. 1 Catholic art ' was discussed by Mr. Paul Woodroffe, and 1 The Church's music,' by the Rev. Joseph Rigby, with musical illustrations. A mass meeting of the men was held in the evening, his Eminence Cardinal- Logue in the chair. An address by Archbishop Maguire, of Glasgow, was the chief feature of the meeting. Mgr. Nugent and Count Moore also spoke. FRANCE Petty Spite

A retired marine officer, M. Ernest Ollivier, who is now 76 years of age, had enjoyed for a great many years the privilege freely granted to retired officers to work in the Library of the Ministry of Marine. He is the owner of a weekly publication called •La Croix des Marins, ' which is non-political, but distinctly Catholic in tone, and which as such is rather objectionable to the Ministry over which M. Pelletan presides. One day recently, as M. Ollivier was entering the Library, he was stopped and informed that he would not be allowed there any more. Comment is needless.

Public Anxiety dined to rely onGe m a^ e th» a o» S pr^e OPe U°\ "a curious attitude to adopt, in view of ttommirru i» • value the Papal influence in France, shrink before its appearing in Germany; an eloquent testimony to the CfevTi d t! m L ortance of theSeeof st - p " ~ Persecution of Religious r.J h ° Se^ Oi U a < sa ys the « Catholic Herald') who but read on this side of the Channel of the expulsion of religious Orders rom France can have but little idea of the suffering inflicted on monks and nuns so expelled. Abbot Gasquet, at Liverpool, gave some instances of how acute the suffering is. Thousands of monks and nuns who have grown old in the cloister have been literally turned adrift without either the means of subsistence or the ability to procure it. For the French Government besides closing the monasteries and convents has appropriated all their lands and possessions ; in other words, besides expatriating the monks and nuns, the Government of France robs them and leaves them penniless as well as homeless. Already nuns so dispossessed have had to seek dispensation from their vows, and find the necessaries of life in taking up life as domestic servants or saleswomen m warehouses, Fortunately, the evil will speedily cure itself, because France must provide out of Government funds new schools instead of those that are closed, and workhouses to maintain the indigent who formerly were maintained by the religious Orders. Meantime, of course, the poor monks and nuns suffer to a poignant degree, and more than we in this country can have any adequate appreciation of. ROME.— A Legend

The 'Cardinal Camerlengo, in an interview ith the Koman correspondent of the ' Daily Chronicle ' denied that it is the custom for the Camerlengo, in the case of the Pope's demise, to certify the death by striking the deceased's forehead three times with a silver hammer How the legend arose, he said, is a mystery to him. UNITED STATES —Catholic Progress The astonishing progress of the Catholic Church in the united States, among a nation (says the ' Daily News ') which is still identified in the popular mind with the militant Protestantism that founded its greatness, is one of the leading facts of contemporary religious history. It is calculated from the Church statistics compiled in connection with the recent census that, taking the entire country together, one in every three adults is a communicant of some religious denomination. In every one of the 125 large cities the Catholic population exceeds in numbers the members of all the Protestant Churches combined, while more than one-half of the population of 14 States and territories are members of the Catholic Church. The aggregate population of the 125 largest cities is 14,110,000, of whom 3,641,000 are Catholics. And it must be noted that among the 14 States having each a majority of Catholics are several of the leading Eastern States, once the stronghold of the Puritan Yankee-