Intercolonial

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXV, Issue 2, 10 January 1907, Page 35

Intercolonial

The Rev.- P. G'Leary, who is about to leave for Ireland- to - enter- the Novitiate House of : ttie Vincentian Order in Dublin, was publicly- entertained ahd presented with -a purse "of -sovereigns by the people 'of Junee and • 'district

There were over 6000 people at the annual , demonstration, and sports carnival of the H.A.C.B. • Society at Clifton Gardens, Sydney, 1 on December 20 > The proceeds are' to promote the study, of Irish history,.'" literature, and language in the Catholic schools. •■ '-<

The death occurred on Friday," December 21," of the Rev. Father Sheehy, assistant -priest at Moree, whilst away, .temporarily, at -Quirindi. The deceased wits very popular with ■ all denominations "and classes, and>. the news' of his,- death caused profound regret in the district. He -was- 68 years of age. s -'.'<

His Lordship Dr. 'Norton, Bishop of Port Augusta, received . a - g;reat welcome^ home to Petersburg- after his consecration. Many addresses were presented, and the gifts from the laity included a carriage and set of harness. In his^xeply Dr. Norton referred to his long drives in his old buggy to the sick and to the district churches and stations. His Lordship also touchingly referred to the late Bishbp, Dr.- Maher-, the first anniversary of his death. He also declared that to the present Archbishop of Adelaide, Most Rev. Dr. O'Reily, they owed a deep debt of gratitude for the methods taught and means adopted to liquidate the* diocesan liabilities.

- A meeting of men has been held at' the St." Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne, lor the purpose of -devising a scheme to take advantage of the offer of the PrenAer (Mr. Bent) to subsidise public hospitals to the ex- < tcrtt of 20 per cent, on the amounts collected by each institution. <Mr. Benjamin Hoare,^ who presided,- said -that- ,the debt on St. Vincent's Hospital was £25,000, and Ihe fact {/hat the Treasurer was- willing under the conditions named to contribute one-fifth should act as .incentive to the well-wishers of the institution to aaise the amount nepessary. to free the hospital from debt. It was decided to appeal to ~the public' to make contributions o£ Is per month 'with that object in view. A representative committee was formed, with Mr. T. B. Molomby as hoi*, secretary, and a circular letter will be issued in the course "of a few days. The ladies have also ..taken up the good work, -which promises to be a success.' , *, The death of Mother 'Mary Stanislaus, of the Convent of Mercy, Gundagai, »,s announced. She was 68 years of age, and entered the Order in Dublin, Ireland, as >a , novice in 1858, ' being professed two years later. In 1859 Archdeacon McEncroe visited Ireland at - the instance of Archbishop Poluing, with a view of en- _ listing volunteers from the Sisters of- Mercy to labor in New South Wales. As a result, Mother Stanislaus and , five companions lanUed _in Australia on October 27 1859, and soon "after - established the community ».n •* Goulburn, which is now' the . mother-house of a number ;_of prosperous convents in .the Goulburn. diocese. Of the little band of -six Sisters who did the pioneering in that diocese she was the only survivor. On July 13 1886, a branch of the Order was founded in Gundagai, and there the inaugural' wor'lc was " performed by Mother Stanislaus. Since then she ,had /been absent from Gundagai for various terms, but the- last- eleven - years of her life were spent- there' as Superioress. 1 According to' the statistics ,in the 'Catholic Directory ' for the past year, the diocese of Port i Augusta is divided into eight districts, containing 3G churches, attended to by 12 priests* The total Catholic population Is- about 12,000. 'Ihere are eleven prir mary schools, one boarding school for girls." and one superior day- school. The primary schools are conducted by the Sisters of St. Joseph, and the two other schools by -the Good Samaritan Nuns, which are tho only two Orders •in Ihe diocese. The- children attending the Catholic schools number about 800 /' Port Augusta, from which the diocese is named, was, the principal town in it when the first Bishop was an ' pointed, and Dr. O'RcUy took up his residence there * , me lajte Bisfoop JVTaher,, however, resided at Pekina' his own parish, and Dr. Norton is following, his example by residing in Petersburg, his own parish, in the ; administration of which he will now be assisted' by Father O'Rourke. .Port Pine is now the largest town in the diocese; hut, Petersburg occupies a central position as the junction of the railways -to Broken I « 11 3£ SV'epi^altX^ a "' d OffWS *»{ **™' :