The Catholic World

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXV, Issue 28, 11 July 1907, Page 31

The Catholic World

ENQLAND— Stonyhurst College | Rev. Father William Bodkin, S.J., the recently appointed Rector of Stonyhurst, comes from a well-known Gal way fa-mily, and was born in that historic city on May 2n;, 1867. Consequently he enters upon his important and responsible post at the comparatively early age of forty years. His acquaintance with Stonyhurst has been long and intimate. He joined the Preparatory School at Hodder in September, 1877. He entered the novitiate of the Society in September, 1884, and was ordained priest in 892. After a year spent in Bel-r gium, he returned to his old work at Stonyhurst in lyO3, and when, in 1905, it was determined to open a new school of the Society at Leeds, Father Bodkin was finally selected to be its first Director and Prefect of Studies. A Striking Demonstration A stxi'Mng demonstration of . the power of Catholicity in London was given on Sunday, May 19, at 'Kensal Green, when over two thousand processionists, with bantls and banners, and bearing relics of St. Thomas A'Becket, Blessed Cuthbert Mayne, and Blessed Edmund Campion, S.J., as well as a beautifully-deco-rated slatue of the Blessed Virgin, made a tour of the principal thoroughfares, and were the object of the respectful interest of many thousands of spectators of - all denominations. The procession, which was the twelfth annual event, was organised by the Kensal Brs,nch of the Guild of Our Lady of Ransom, which has its headquarters at the Church of Our Lady of the Holy Souls. .A large force of police was present, but their services were only required to preserve the line of~ route. In many cases the spectators weue four and five deep, and the greatest reverence was shown for the saored character of the procession. Father Fletcher, the Rector of the church w in a brief address before the Benediction, - said their unity must make a great impression on non-Catholics, and expressed the hope that many of those who had witnessed that day's procession might next year join its ranks. FRANCE— Evicting Nuns -At daylight on May 4 fifty mounted gendarmes surrounded the Convent of the Ursulines at Nantes, and when the Sisters refused to open the doors these' were battered in. The" Sisters were found assembled at prayer da the chapel, but after the Mother Superior had read a protest against the action of the authorities the officiating priest removed the Blessed Sacrament and the Sisters withdrew.' In the meantime an excited crowd gathered outside the convent, shouting maledictions on the - soldiers. Several persons were arrested, including a lieutenant of the Twenty-fifth Dragoons. " How a Son of M. Combes died There is something at once pitiful and ghastly (says 'Rome') in the story of the 'recent death of Edgar Combes, - son of the ex-President of the French Council, whose na<me figures so prominently in the persecution of. religion i*n France. This is how it is de-,, scribed by the ' Peuplo Francais,' of Paris : * The ex-** -President's son had been moved to the religious house in the Rue Maurepas to undergo the operation for ap% penddcitis. During the operation the surgeons lost" all hope of saving their patient, and fearing a catastrophe sent -word to the family. Then, to avoid comments, "the parents; of Edgar gave oirders that, the dying man should b-e moved either to .Rue dv Peintre Lebrxni- or to Avenue de Picardie, the residence of his father-in-law. But in spite of the haste made by the sub6rdinaties of , ex-President Combes, when the ambulance arrived E-dpar had already died in the house of tf?he Franciscan Sisters of the Rue Maurepas.. But this did noty - prevenftihe family from having Edgar Combes buried -. civilly, or M. Varrault, the representative of the Government at the funeral, from delivering over the grave a most • violent, discourse- against the religious congregations.' - - ■ G ■ '* - - _ ■ The Catholic institute .; ' His Holiness Pius X. has sent a hundred thousand "francs to the Catholic Institute- of Paris, with an interesting letter. Having- heaTcß- that; the Institute was , ■ ; threatened, like so many _ oiher .Catholic establishments ' :in France, wftfi « reforms *» of a.' nature calculated to ? change its_ character as a religious teaching establishment, the Pore has^ hastened to exhort the French Bishops to maintain the Institute on its old footing,

and to regard it as a most important institution for Paris. The hundred thousand francs which the Pope has sent is intended to assist the creation of special classes for teaching the history of Christianity and the history of religions. Pius X., we are further told, wishes his gift to act as a hint to wealthy. Catholics in France to help him to keep up the Catholic Institute" in Paris in its integrity, so that it ma v receive as great a number as possible of ecclesiastical students. An Amusing Incident • Political crises come and go in France, but the religious .-trouble remains (says the ' Catholic Times '). to some places the ant/i-clerical authorities take on themselves to' close the churches, amid the apathy . of the population ; but in others the people demonstrate their ddsl'ike of these high-handed proceedings. Thus at Lagney, Meurthe-et-Moselle, the Mayor closed the church and disdained to lend an ear to" appeals and protests. Whereugpai a band of some sixty women, armed with stout cudgels,- made an onslaught on the town hall and invaded the council chamber while the members of the municipality were in session. . The gallant members, thus brought to book, made no attempt to resist Tbhe indignant women but sought safety in flight, finding a way of escape, by the windows ! One of them was so overcome by the novel stratagem of the women that he incontinently sent in his resignation. If only ij the women of France would imitate the courage of this band of modern Joans of Arc, a lesson would speedily be taught to the persecutors. . Tire men appear to be indifferent, or perhaps afraid. Anti it is -.precisely : on this spirit of fear or indifference that French politicians have counted in their attacks against religion. Nothing . bring® the Government of a country, to -their senses so quickly as evidence that the governed regard them as servants, not tyrants; of the public wfrk-h-choose them. - ' • , i ~\, ITALY— The St. Bernard Hospice More than 1200 storm-bound travellers 1 were rescued by the monks ql the St. Bernard hospice during the past winter, which was the most severe for many years. At least a hundred persons who had lost their way in the snow-covered mountain pass would have died but for ~ the assistance of the monks - and their famous dogs. The travellers were mostly Italian workmen, but included three English tourists. Although, none of the rescued men died, the monks fear that there will be found during the summer the. bodies of several who perished in the snow, which "was in some places forty feet deep. JAPAN— New.Missionaries . r When Japan opened its doors to Catholic missionaries in 1858 (says ' Catholic Missions ') the country was placed in the care of the Society for Foreign Missions of Paris, and until recently the Japanese" missions were entirely in the hands of its priests. After - the Spanish-American war a number of Spanish Do=minican Fathers from .the Philippines were sent by the Propaganda to the large island ot CMkoku, on the eastern coast of Japan, detached from the of "Nagasaki and formed into a Prefecture Apostolic. Franciscan Fathers have recently arrived in JScapporo, North Japan; where after" an interruptian of three hundred .years Jtbey . the Franciscan missions. The sons of St. Ignatius are soon to re-enter the field so gloriously cultivated by St, Francis X&vier, and will prob"ably found a large educational institution in Tokyo. The missionaries of the Society of the Divine Word "(Steye) have accepted a mission in the diocese of Hakodate, and are already on their way to Akita, one of the most important coast towns in Western Japan. All these moves are good, not only because they increase tße number of workers, but also because they create a certain rivalry among them. ROME— Offerings from America The 'Figaro' states that' the Bishops of the' United States and Canada have just promised the Pope an annual offering of £200,000. It is stated that the greater part of this sum will be raised by means of . collections among the Catholics in the two countries, wfiTle the "Bishops have furthermore undertaken to provide the balance out of . their diocesan revenues, t SPAIN— The Heir to the Throne The bapt/ism of the Prince of the. Asturias took place ; in Madrid' on May 18- with great ceremony. The infant received the names of Alfonso Pio Cristino Eduardo Francisco Guillermo Carlos, Enrique Rugenio Fernando Antonio Venatfoio. The, last two names are the names of the" saints for titte day on which the child was 'born, Pio is the nance of the * Pope, his <. godh

father ; Eduardo is given in honor of King Edward, Enrique after Prince Henry of Battenberg, and Eugenio after the boy's mother. Cardinal Sancha, Primate of Spain, performed the ceremony. King Alfonso placed on the Prince of the Asturias the Collar of the Golden Fleece, the Collar of Carlos 111., and the Grand Cross of Isabella the Catholic. The Collar of the Golden Fleece was* the same as tihat which the Prince's grandfather, Alfonso XII., "received on the occasion of his baptism. UNITED STATES—Divers Tongues Special preparations are being made" in Brooklyn for the commemoration of the fifteenth anniversary of the consecration of Bishop McDonnell as second Bishop of the See. He was consecrated in St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York, on April 2>5, 1892, by the late Archbishop Corrigan. Since he has had charge of the diocese Bishop McDonnell has seen its work increase' with arcazing rapidity, one of the most notable features being the addition of many thousands of Catholics of various nationalities. The Gospel is now preached in the diocese of 'Brooklyn every Sunday in twelve languages, English, German, Italian, French, Polish, Slav, Syrian, Greek, Hungarian, Lithuanian, Scandinavian, and Bohemian. GENERAL A Chinese Nun The first Chinese nun in the history of the Order of the Sacied Heart of Jesus and Mary was invested with the veil at the Cathedral of Honolulu on March 21. She was Miss Mary Wong Leong, the only daughter of Wong Leong, one of the best known and wealthiest merchants and rice-planters in Hawaii. Death of an Archbishop The death is - reported of the Most Rev. Dr. Flood, 0.P., 'Archbishop 'of Trinidad, which occurred at Port of Spain on - May 17. - -Born in County Longlord 63 years ago, ,he- entered the novitiate of the Dominican Order at Tallag'lit, County Dublin,, in I860: ' Four years • .later'lie went, to Rome-to-study theology> He. was > ordained in 1867 and took his r degree' of Doctor "of -Divinity the following 'subsequently' -minister,ed in- Cork, Waterfbrd'./Galway, and 1 N&wry, in'c"ach"of' • which places he" won golden, opinions. „ .When . Father -, Burke died in -1883; leaving unfinished the"building of '^ a new church;. hjs.r Superiors could! think of (no"o"ne( no"o"ne - who,.. was_ better , able 4,0 take, the placer of- *'the r great' - orgtor,. and xomplete<his->work, than 1 Dr. Fl/ood. He---went to'-America jk\-co'lieet' fju'Ms for the undertaking .'. and had the before he -was called'.""td/, $&, See ' of' Trinidad,- 6t assisting- at the consdcration.^bX '■ . tih.e ,-Bur;ke Memorial .Chur-ch, -a - mbnumen-t not* only' *to- ■ .-the'" great- ,pr-ea6lvef; but' 'to-\tlie luntiringl untiring zeal "of :'tne. r future Arphbishjop..-,. Six. months,afterwards he, yejaeive'dv. -'ait intimation' from Rome that Propaganda had'.ap--' pointed .him*-:ta« succeed'ADr.^Hyland, -Himself air Irish T Domanioan^s- '•TpnWalcl. ' He Made every '• . ?^^^c* e*a^^^#ft^*-toa:*!whlch Ihe-thought'hV.was ""' '-unm-ot'thy.; but' Rome remained' firm, and he haft.- tto- sub-a.Kf->?His r<,Qon lsecjGa:Eic>nitoolC' place-in Dublin":on : August "- .; JjSpiLXB«7 j ■-■ Twtf yea^s l- aper'" his.' afrival arf ' Trinidad he * isueeeeded^ W> tfte" •'A'rcli-biinopric.:' For twenty typars-©r „ .-A 3^?^^? ;cthe. dVfe&t ilndies^with "un'flaggiaig;*eai: V."