The Catholic World

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXV, Issue 39, 26 September 1907, Page 31

The Catholic World

AFRICA— An Extensive Vicariate .Bishop O' Gorman's* Vicariate of Sierra Leone, Africa covers, 40,000 square miles, with a population . of ' 3,000,000. (working with him are twenty-two priests and twenty-five Sisters of St. Joseph. The climate is., the most unhealthy of the whole continent, and. has earned for the district the title. of the 'White Man's Grave.' AUSTRIA—Heroic Nuns The recent water outburst on the hills just outside Vienna was a disaster of terrible magnitude. A scene of heroism was witnessed outside, the Hospital for Feeble-minded Women. .Several nuns, hearing of the peril of the nineteen inmates, determined to save them at- all costs. The great mass of water was rushing . along at an incredible speed, but the nuns without the • slightest hesitation, entered it, and after much difficulty ,■ succeeded in reaching the hospital. Then they spread out jumping sheets, and into these the terrified inmates leapt one by one, and were carried away to a place of safety. CHINA— The Catholic Population Father Madrey, S.J., missionary at Kiang-Nan, has 1 compiled statistics which show that, out of a population of over four hundred and seven million, there are one million Catholics in China. The increase of Catholics last year was reckoned to be nearly 90,000. ENGLAND— Entertaining Royalty Father Bernard Vaughan has again been entertaining Royalty in the East' End, having the other day among his audience at Dunstan's Court the Archduchess Marie Therese, the Princess Henri de Bourbon, the Archduchess Marie Annunziata, and the Countess de Bosdi, who took the opportunity of a passage through London to be present at one of the instructions to a thousand East Fnd children. They visited also Lady Edmund TalbO't's settlement. The House of Bourbon are no strangers toi the English Jesuits, for Don Jaime, the eldest son of Don Carlos, was their pupil at Beaumont. Catholic Young Men's Societies The annual Conference of the Catholic Young Men's {Societies of Great Britain was held, this year in Dumfries, and was attended by a hundred and fifty-eight delegates from the principal branches of the Society in England and Scotland. As in the previous year, when the proceedings were held at Dundee, a large number of delegates were from the Lancashire and other Northern towns, whilst the Scottish centres of the organisation were also well represented. The decision of the Council to hold the Conference for tHe fourth time in Dumfries met with universal approval, for, as has before been remarked (says an exchange)", the town has high claims upon the interests of Catholics. In the dark, dismal days of the Reformation The old Faith 1 had someof its noblest champions in the ancient town, and in the recesses of this Nithsdale the lamp of faith has never in all the long, lingering years of the religious night that followed . altogether died out. The Conference, which" was held under the auspices of the Central Council,- afforded remarkable • proof of the power land vitality of the Society, and although the reports showed that numerically it is not nearly so strong as formerly, it is making steady progress, zealous priests having united with representative laymen in furtherina; its interests, and the . efforts of those who are engaged under Its banner in bringing about the regeneration of the Society upon a basis of Catholic principle and practice. Death of a Convert Mr. Reginald Balfour, who died suddenly at his House at Hampstead on Friday, July 19, leaves behind \ him a memory that will be one of lifelong kindness and affection in all who knew him. His. health was fragile even when he was at .Westminster School ; it caused him to be invalided home from South ' Africa, where he had an appoyitment from Lord Milner ; and it made pauses in his ' Morning Post ' work and in His ' Dublin Reviewing ' ; but never was it dreamed that it limited his time on earth to 32 years— a ten- " ure of life) which left him still a boy in his good looks and in his receptive mind. After his conversion to the Church, he became a keen student of Franciscan literature, his feeling as well as his scholarship being 1 preserved to us in ' The Seraphic Keepsake ' ; and he collaborated with Father Benson and with Mr. C. RfEchie (his cousin) in the 'production of that * Alpha-

bet of~ Saints ' which has attained, among books of its class, an unprecedented popularity. He married a daughter of the .Rev. Francis Warre Cornish, ViceProvost' of Eton, an,d a grandniece of Thackeray—herself a writer and a convert to the Church. ' ' GERMANY— Retiring from the World In the highest aristocratic and Court circles of Gernuany a profound sensation has 'been caused by the retiring from the world of Prince Lowenstein-Wertheim-Rochefort to enter the Dominican Monastery of Benle, near the Dutch frontier. Prince Lowenstein is seventythree years old, and has vast possessions in Prussia, Bavaria, Baden, and Hesse, lfis income being reckoned at £300,000 a year. His lands and pther real property remain in the possession of the family. He, is the brother-in-law of Don Miguel of Portugal, and'l.uncle of Prince Alfonso, brother of the Spanish pretender, Don Carlos. He was the leader of the ultramontane aristocratic party. in the Prussian House of Lords, and is a man .of singular earnestness and sincerity. Of late years the prince has become widely known as the head of a powerful movement to abolish duelling. Among the most notable recruits were the Kings of Saxony and.' Wurtemburg. INDIA— The Government's Appreciation The Government of India has awarded the Kaiser-i-Hind Medal to the Rev. A. Muller, S.J., In recognition of his charitable services. Father Muller's name is widely known in India as Director,, of the Homoeopathic Poor Dispensary at Kankanady, opened in 1891. To these has been since added through his untiring zeal and energy a fine hospital, a Poor House, and a Leper Asylum, while the Plague Hospital, opened in 1902 at the outbreak of the bubonic plague, rendered very valuajble services during the epidemic. ITALY— Socialists make a Mistake An anti-clerical epidemic has arisen over Italy lately and has broken out spasmodically in rcaiiy ways and places (writes a Rome correspondent). The people of Tivoli were celebrating the feast of their patroness lately — St. Symphorosa. -They had fireworks in the evening. The students of the Irish College went to \ witness them, and returning home to the College Villa afterwards — for their country villa where they pass the holidays is outside the town — they were attacked 'by some'Sociafists. Those cowards thought they were dealing with Italaßn Seminarists. They soon found 'their mistake. The Irish, students stood and did not let themselves be knocked down without knowing why. The result of about two minutes' attack and defence was that the cowards ran— except one, who had to be taken to the hospital, and is probably still there. Where the Money came from The recent outbreak of anti-clericalism in Italy, says the ' Corrispondenza Romana,' has been fostered ißy the contribution of £6000 from the French Freema- • I sons to the campaign funds. I JAPAN— A New Mission The Society of the Divine Word (Steyl, Holland), at the request of Bishop Berlioz of Hakodate, will take up work on a new mission in Japan — the Hondo Island. Rev. Dr. John Weig, now in China, will take charge. ROME— The Vatican Palace I ami informed froir. an authentic source (writes a Rome correspondent) that the proposed improvements in the Apostolic Palaces of the Vatican, which consist in the building of- a house for. the accommodation of ' the Vatican employees," and the removal of the Vatican Printing Press from its present site to a new and larger one in old Cavalerizza, or ring of the- Noble Guards, will need an outlay of about £80,000. This ' expenditure will also cover the cost of the alterations in the offices of the Secretariate of State, which it is proposed to remove from the third ,to the first floor. Jubilee Celebrations Suspended It will come as- a shock and a sorrowful surprise to Catholics all over the world (says the "Catholic Times ') that the Holy leather should* even have had to contemplate the. advisability of suppressing the celebrations in honor of his sacerdotal jubilee. But the condition of affairs in Rome, and' in many other in Italy also, is such that a concourse of Catholics, nativ.e and foreign, would run serious risk of insult and perhaps outrage at the hands of the wild sectaries and furious anti-clericals who ai;e ever on the lookout for an opportunity to manifest their hostility to the Church. Of late that hostility has been more than usually bitter, and the manifestation of it' has been made comparatively easy by the tolerant attitude adop-

ted by the Government. In these circumstances the Pope has probably been led to ' weigh the peril of giving any occasion for an outbreak of anti-clerical hatred which would be an offensive accompaniment •of pelebrations that ought to pass in the quietest and pleasan--test manner. UNITED STATES— Catholic Students It is computed that there are 8671 Catholic students in attendance at secular - colleges in America. Catholic educationists are attempting to grapple with this unpleasant fact. A Japanese Teacher A Japanese teacher has been appointed to take charge of one of the science departments of the Marquette University, a Jesuit institution of Milwaukee, in the United States. The Catholic Press At the sixth annual meeting of the American Federation of Catholic Societies, held at Imlianopolis, it was resolved — That as the press is a very important power in moulding public opinion, it is the conviction of -this convention that members "Df the Federated Catholic Societies owe it to then-selves and their religion to loyally support the Catholic press ; ' first, by subscribing for the same, and second, by advertising therein. We recommend that Catholics call for Catholic, papers at news-stands and libraries. By creating a demand for Catholic papers, the corresponding suppl-y will be forthcoming. The Federation continues to voice the need of a daily C'aiholic press in the English language, and urge Catholics to. loyally support any move in that direction. % Heroic Abstainers At a recent nreeting of the Catholic Total Abstinence Union (says the Philadelphia ' Standard and Times ') Rev. John E. McCann, the president, related an incident of the collapse of the' concrete structure at Fifteenth street and Washington Avenue. Father McCann, with the other uriests of St. Teresa's and those of St. Paul's and St. Rita's, were in attendance. Two colored men were pinned down by a girder. A doctor furnished them with drink through a tube. They were offered whisky and refused, asking for water, as did a white man. One of the colored men, whoiri he afterwards saw at the hospital, said he was a. Baptist and did not drink. The white man was a Cathplic total* abstainer, as was his brother, Michael o*Melia, who - was killed, and who belonged to the Ascension Society. Both brothers had received Holy Communion on the recent feast (lay. 'If ever there was an excuse for using a stimulant,' said Father McCann, 1 it was under such circumstances, and,' he added, amid applause, ' I took occasion /at the hospital to congratulate the colored Baptist as well as the white Catholic on their adherence to principle under trying ckcumstances.' A Life Saving Station - A private ..life-saving station, fully equipped with all apparatus and appliances for the saving of life, with the crew composed entirely of priests who live at Loyola-on-the-Lake, the 'Jesuit villa at Sunnyside, three miles west of Lorain, on the shore, has been established at Lake Erie, U.S.A. The idea was carried out at the, suggestion of Rev. Fred. Odenbach, S J of Ignatius College, Cleveland, who has just ordered a marine telescope and a large flag for the look-out tower to be sent to the station. GENERAL Fathers of the Foreign Missions The Fathers of the Foreign Missions- of Paris have opened three ecclesiastical seminaries in Japan one in Corea four in Manchuria, thirteen in. China, one in Thibet, six m Tonquin, . five in Cochin-China, one in Cambodia, one in Siam, one in Burmah, four in the Indies, one m Laos. The number of native -students in these eccltesrastical seminaries is 2246.