INTERCOLONIAL

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXII, Issue 4, 28 January 1904, Page 31

INTERCOLONIAL

Twenty-eight Sisters of St. John of God reached Perth (W.A.) recently by the German mail steamer 1 Zieten.' The goild produced in New South Wales last year was valued at £1,692,363, an increase of £395,059 compared with the previous year. The many friends of Archbishop Kelly, of Sydney, will "be pleased to hear that his health is quite re-estab-lished and that he is at work again with his accustomed energy. He is preaching a series of admirable sermons on ' The Knowledge and Love of Christ.' During last year ' the number of indented kanakas who arrived in Queensland totalled 1037. The departures numbered 1097. The total number now in Queensland is 8308. After 31st December, 1906, the deportation of those then remaining will commence. The ' W.A. Record ' of January 2 publishes photoprocess blocks of the fearful ruin wrought by a cyalone at Boulder. Two of them depict the ruin of the local Catholic church, and in one of the pictures a statue of the Blessed Virgin is seen intact upon its pedestal amidst a tangle of fallen beams and twisted iron. The Catholic people of Ben'digo are preparing an enthusiastic welcome home to their Bishop (Right Rev. Dr. /Reville, 0.5.A.), who, with the Yen. Archdeaon Davy, V.G., recently visited Jellet (Belgium), where a young Bendigonian (Mr. Denis J. Mitchell) is studying at toe Redemptorist House, and will shortly be ordained a member of that famous missionary Order. Dr. Reville delivered a learned address in French 'On the Resources of the Commonwealth. 1 Dr. Reville will return during the first week of Mardn next. The Catholic people of Footscray, Melbourne, and leading citiz'ns filled the local Royal Hall recently on the occasion of a presentation of an illuminated address and a purse of sovereigns to the Rev. P. Boyle, who, for five years, has been associated with the Rev. J. Manly in that very Irish and Catholic suburb. The rev. gentleman has been transferred to Carlton by his Grace the Archbishop. The Mayor (Councillor W. Toohey) presided. There were many of the recipient's brother priests and representative public men also present. By the R.M.S. ' Ormuz,' which reached Melbourne on January 13, the Bishop of Goulburn (Most Rev. Dr. Gallagher) and the Bishop of Rockhampton (Q.) (the Most Rev. Dr. Higgins), were passengers. Accompanying the prelates were the Very Rev. Dean Slattery and the Rev. H. J* Barry (Sydney. The distinguished party was* met at the pier by the Rev. L. Martin, representing his Grace the Archbishop, and were driven to the Archiepiscopal PaJace, where their Lordships were guests till the following day, when they left for Sydney, en route to their respective dioceses. The most rev. prelates have made an extended visit to the Eternal City, Ireland, and America, and have been absent about a year. A sum of over £220,000 has already been expended on St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney. A deb>t of only £11,000 still remains upon that noble pile, and steps are being taken to wipe it off. It is the desire of Cardinal Moran that St. Mary's should be solemnly consecrated in 1905. Before the end of next year all the Bishops of Australia will be assembled in Sydney for the third National Synod, and it would (says the ' Catholic Press ') be a grand opportunity to consecrate the Cathedral. This, however, cannot be done as long as any debt remains upon it. Movements have been started in every parish to form local committees to make arrangements for a Jubilee Cathedral Fair, to be held in September next, each of which will carry out its programme on the same lines as if the Fair were being held for the requirements of its own particular district, so that the energies of the people will be combined to attain one grand purpose. It is the intention of the Cardinal to visit each committee, either when they hold their first meeting or at some subsequent gathering, and already several meetings have been arranged. As soon as local committees have been formed in all the city and suburban parishes his Eminence will call a meeting of their representatives — say the president and secretary of each — who will become members of the general committee, to organise arrangements connected with the internal workings of the Fair. A general meeting of the clergy and the laity will also be held with a view to forming a general committee and an executive council, which will be charged with the whole of the general management.