THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1904. THE GREAT COMING CONGRESS

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXII, Issue 38, 22 September 1904, Page 17

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1904. THE GREAT COMING CONGRESS

§NE of Cervantes' immortal creations invoked a blessing on the man who invented sleep and who gave to man in this vale of tears the oblivion of work and grief that comes when ' ti-.e<l eyelids fall on tired eyes.' In like manner Catholics in the German Fatherland can from their hearts bless the man who invented Congresses ; for to those mixecT lay and clerical synods or convocations (as we may call tjhem) Catholic (ieirmany owes in gopd part her virile and voluminously active religious life an«d the

organised and sturdy spirit which brought about a tyrant's downfall in the day of his power, sent him' in sackcloth to Oanossa, and secured the religious liberties which he had long ground under his iron heel. ♦ Nothing great,' says Emerson, ' was ever achieved without enthusiasm.' Strong enthusiasm was needed in the troublesioimei days when Congresses began, in a tentative way, among those of our faith beyond the Rhine. It rlill ensures and grows in its homeland and it has overflowed to Italy and othe* European countries— followed everywhere by a wealth of good which is the siurest guarantee of its continuance. The. First Australasian Catholic Congress, held in Sydney in 1900, was modestly, described by Cardinal Moran in a recent speech as merely a preparatory effort. But those who were privileged to be pxpsent at its memorable gatherings will readily recall the successive shocks of pleased surprise with which tihey swiftly realised its astonishing completeness, the vast range of interests which it covered, the results which it so promptly and successfully achieved, and the indelible 'impression which, from the first day, it produced.

The Saconfd Australasian Catholic Congress— to be held m Melbourne October 23-30— promises to be another stinking ahd history-making success. Vast preparations have lon§ been in hand ; an enormous outlay of money (over £12,000) has been expended upon a magnificent new Congress Hall alone ; programmes of varied and surpassing interest have been arranged ; the keenest interest is being manifested in the movement in every part of tihe Commonwealth ; and everything bids fair to make our Second Congress an event of memorable importance in tiho history of the Catholic Church in these countries. In explaining recently tthe main purposes of a Congress, the Archbishop of Melbourne said : ' We live in a new country, and in an age that is passing very quickly before our eyes ; and new ideas, and new relations, and new wants, and new remedies are constantly coming before the public. That is true, not only in regard to religious matters, but in regard to social m'at/tejrte, in regjarti to mercantile matters;, in regard, to political matters, anti 1 in regard to all that great enlargejfl class of subjects which have interest for busy nucn. The object of the Congress, as I apprehend it, is this : Even after four jyears firings ahatigejct very considerably — what was applicable four yea,rs ago would not be at all applicable at the present time. Therefore we, as Catholics and as Catholic citizens of the Cojiimion wealth (because the Congress was not confined to ecclesiastical matters alone, but embraced matters of general import and interest), are anxious to keep up to the times, to become acquainted practically with every new development, and to take measures to profit in the new state of things by what is good, and to avoid in the new state of things what may be bad or injurious. Again, the Congress is intended to serve another very practical p^irpjose. During the past four years the Cardinal,, tihe Bishops, and the clergy have been working away in the Church, and the laymen have been working in their different positions arid their different occupations in the world. And that is right and proper, because each orte has his own domain in w.hich to work. But the Congress gives an opportunity, and an admirable opipdrtunity, for a new relation between the clergy and the laity. In the Congress they no longer stand, as it were, %on separate platforms ; they stand on the famo platform, and we consider the same subjects, and discuss the same questions, and listen to the samo papers, asi'd offer our criticism in the way of approval or 'disapproval of the treatment of the different matters brought before the Congress. I regard as one of the most important phases of the Congress the fact tjiat it brings! the, clergy ajid the laity together in the consideration,, atod in the equal consideration, of the same suibjoct)B, and, as I said before, these subjects were of great value as they were of great interest. That is what thet Congress is intended to accomplish.'

The Congress is not merely for the States of the Commtottiweialt'h. It is for New Zealand as well, and for Australasia, arid will deal with subjects of varied and practical, interest to Catholics under the Southern Cross. But its interests range more widely still. It is a Cattalic as well as an Australasian Congresjs, and the great vol,ume of its published papers and transactions will represent the best thought of foremost Catholic miods oh subjects of present Catholic interest in efvery part of the Catholic world. Bishop Gallagher, speaking recently, in Sydney, said of the First Congress volume : ' I have heard priests and people in the United States slay that oven they, in the most progressive portion of the Universal Church on the globe, had hardly any one \ volume of proceeding^ connected with the ChiUrch, of America that contained so many instructing and interesting papers on everything in regard to the Church ahd its advancement as that which had the papers of their Australasian Congress held four years ag|o.' ' I know,' said the Archbishop of Melbourne ojn the same occasion, ' that the vohime containing the transactions of the last Congress was read in America, Ireland, England, and in all the EmglisliSpeaking countries with the greatest interest ; and the suuprrse of the readers was that here in tihese new cojuntyies, and amongst the faifhful of a new Church, so much progress had been made, and that we have accomip listed after a century of our history what had not yet been accomplished in some of the oldest Catholic dountHes of the world. It was this that filled the reader with wonder, that raised Australasian Catholus in the estimation of those who, through lihat volume, became acquainted with the present condition of ■Hie Church in these countries. Now, when it is found that our efforts' are not confined to one. Congress, but aie expending t|o the second^— as, witih the help of Cod, they wofuld extend hereafter to the third, fourth, and fifth Congress I—the1 — the impression made on the mihtis of those wttfo would read the Acta of the forthcoming Congress wouKd be an impression that the Catholics of these new Countries have begun where the inhabitants of oihcr countries had left off. No wonder, then, that we ha\e more advanced in a short time, in certain directions, than those who certainly had a longer existence, and who seem also to have larger opportunities than we ha"v c had. I ktiow I have said enough to make you take an interest in the forthcoming Congress, and I will, in conclusion, mecely express a hope that everyone who can will come, an*d that those who cannot, will make themselves owners — by paying the comparatively small fee required— iof the volume which will cointai'n the pmceedings of the Congress. I may say it is only with the utrqost care that we can turn out that volume, so that, the cost shall not exceed the fee (10s Cd) expected from the members of the Congress. In other words, if the momberis derive no other benefit from the Congress than the possession of that volume, they will ha>ve ample lem!Hne"ratiom for the amount expended in becoming members of the Congress. Those who become members Will also 'have all the other Advantages, whether literary, oi sciantific, or Social, which will be afforded.'

/It only remains for us to express the earnost hope that New Zealand will have a strong lay and cleriral representation at the coming Congress. We trust that hundreds of those who cannot attend its meetings will, by becoming members, secure, at cost price or less, the great Volume containing the papers and proceedings— a volume whi'oh will be, in effect, an up-tfcndate cyclopaedia of expert information covering a wide range of the live and practical Catholic subjects of our time. The Congress volume is already partly in type and flic work of its .publication is being pushed dn apace. It dan lc obtained only by a ca^rd of membership .procurable trom the various Diocesan Secretaries, whose names appear hereunto, and it should find a place in every convent, sohQbl, : parochial library, priest's book-case, and in every Catholic home.