The Catholic World

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXIV, Issue 11, 19 March 1908, Page 31

The Catholic World

ENGLAND— The Holy Father's Jubilee The Pope's Jubilee will be celebrated this year in vari )us ways. The Duchess of Norfolk is the presidentof a committee of English Catholic' ladies to raise funds to present his Holiness with 100 silver Communion chalices. FRANCE— Death of Cardinal Richard His Eminence Cardinal Richard, Archbishop' of Paris, died on January 28. Cardinal Merry del Val telegraphed the Pope's benediction. The deceased Cardinal was born at Nantes in March, 1819, was named Bishop of Belley in October, 1870, was appointed Coadjutor to Cardinal Guibert, Archbishop of Paris, in May, 1875, became Archbishop of that See on July 8, 1886, and was created Cardinal at the Consistory of May 24, 1889. GERMANY— Catholics and Universal Suffrage In the debate in the Reichstag on the Prussian franchise the leaders of the Catholic Centre and ■ the Radical Union supported the demand for universal suffrage, but deprecated the street demonstrations. A Cardinal on the Catholic Press The Cardinal-Archbishop of Cologne, Most Rev. Dr. Fischer, has been impressing an important truth on the Catholics of his diocese. A reception was held in his s honor by the staff of the ' Kolnische Volkszeitung, ' and in reply to a speech by Herr Bachem, proprietor of that journal, his Eminence observed that owing to the difficulties which Catholics are called upon to face, and the increasing attacks upon religion, the clergy and the Catholic press should continually strive to ir>ake the good relations between them more and more perfect. The \*iew to which the Cardinal has been giving expression is strongly held in Rome. The ' Civilta Cattolica,' the other day, in an article on ' lhe Omnipotence of Journalism,' affirmed that the world isT-'" governed by public opinion and ibis by journalism, that nine-tenths of those who read newspapers allow their editors to do their thinking for them, and that ' in. puiblic life to-day there is no' other criterion of truth, honesty, uprightness, justice, except that which is coined by journalism.' An Extensive Diocese ■ - Cologne lost in 1907 ' 54 priests by death ; ( 81 students were ordained priests. .The total number _of priests— secular and religious — is 2228, of which -number 55 are golden jubilarians. Eighty-five theological students are to be ordained priests in the course of 1908. The number of Catholics is about two millions ; and ' yet Cologne 'is not the largest diocese in Germany. ITALY — Anti-clerical Libellers Condemned For the past month various cases in which justice has -been done to priests defamed by anti-clericals in Italy have been reported (writes a Rome correspondent under ,-date -January 26). These have served to open the eyes of many to the "campaign of violence and calumny carried en against the clergy In the larger Cities of this country. The latest case comes- from Comacchio, where the Salesiahs have an institute. The Socialists of th a t locality, attacked Don Rubino, the Salesian Superior, 'in the usual way through the columns of their or^an, ' Insorgiaroo.' Without any hesitation he brought the case into court and had it investigated publicly. The result was ttie passing of a sentence anything but pleasing to the very excellent editor of ' Inisorppamo,' for the praetor sient him 1 to prison for a month, inflicted a fine of 350 francs, and ordered him to pay all costs and then make restitution for the losses incurred by the Salesians on account of his articles. This sentence may be regarded as comparatively light. Only last week two editors in South Italy were sent to prison on a similar charge for - ten" " months each., so that their villegiatura next summer will be enjoyed in prison. ROME— Decree of Beatification The decree of Beatification of the Venerable Mother Barat, foundress of the Order of the Ladies of the Sacned Heart, was read on Sunday, January 26, in the- . Consistory Hall at the Vatican in the oresence of 300 persons. The Pope delivered a short allocution. The beatification will take place on May 24, a t St. Peter's. The Feast of St. Agnes The annual celebrations held on the Feast of St. Agne®, January 21 (writes a Rome correspondent), were attended by a vast congregation of Romans and

foreigners, for the memory of the girl-martyr is always dear to Catholics. Over the catacomb in which her parents burled. the martyr's remains om the night of her death in 305, under Diocletian, High Mass was celebrated in the beautiful ,church which Constantine built in* 324 at the request of his daughter Constantia. This church, restored by Pope Honorius iii the seventh century, lias • been fortunate enough to escape the hands of the renovators, so that to-day, after the many Vicissitudes to which Rome has-been subjected, we have the fine old- Church of St. Agnese, a mile and .a tialf irom the city walls, in , all its primitive grandeur. During, the celebration of Mass the ceremony of blessing the pair of lambs — emblems of sacrifice and innocence — from the wool of which the Palliums worn by Metropolitansthroughout the world, as a symbol of spiritual jurisdiction, are woven, took place. The -lambs were borne into the church in baskets, bound with red and blue ribbons, and looking extremely- pretty as they reclined on damask cushions. On being blessed upon the altar under which the body of St. A gnos ' reposes, they were" taken to the Vatican to. be again blessed by Pius X. The Holy Father then sent them to be cared for by--the Sisters of St. CeciJia" in , Trastevere. At Easter their white fleeces, will be shorn and fjiven, as is customary, to x the Pope to be woven into palliums which 'are placed in a golden urn. over the tomb of St. Peter. " • .•■--• The Vatican

The word Vatican (says an exchange) is often used, but many do not understand its The term refers < to" a collection of buildings on one .of the seven hills of ' Ronfe, which covers a space of twelve hundred feet in length and one thousand feet in breadth. It is built on avspace once occupied by the garden of Nero. It owes its origin to the Bishop of Rome, who vn> the early part of the sixth century erected a humble residence- on its site. About the year 1160, Pope Euge- „ nius rebuilt it on a magnificent .scale. Pope Innocent 11. a few years afterwards gave it up as a lodging to Peter II. ,• King of Aragon. In 1305, %iement II.; at- the instigation of the King of France, removed the Panal See from Rome to A\ignon, when the Vatican remained in a condition of obscuiity and ner.lect for more than seventy years. But soon aftpr the return of the Pontifical Court to Rome, the Vatican was sput •in a* state of repair, and again enlarged, and it was thenceforward considered as the regular palace and residence of.,the Popes, who one after another added fresh buildings' ' to it, and gradually enriched at with anti- s qu'ities, statues, pictures, and 'books until it became the richest depository In the world. SCOTLAND— CathoIic Progress Interesting " statistics ar-e- given in the ' Catholic Directory ' as to the progress of the Church in Scotland during 1907. The baptisms for the year totalled 20,546, Glasgow archdiocese having the largest number— 14,78% and the diocese of Argyll and the Isles the smallest, 289. The remainder were distributed as- follows :— Edinburgh archdiocese, 2998 ; Dunkeld, 1294 ; Galloway, 725~rvand Aberdeen, 455. , Confirmationisfor the- year in Scotland reached the number of 11,^46, distributed as follows : Glasgow, 9012 '; Edinburgh, 955 ; Dunkeld, 874 ; Aberdeen, 306 ; Argyll and the Isles, 305; and Galloway, 54.^ There are now n.ore schools mi thenorth than there were in 1906, the total bding $12. Colleges and' convents number 69, and there are no fewer -tiban 37 charitable institutions carrying out the o-ocd work of relieving the poor. - Ecclesiastical statistics show ..that there are 552 priests in Scotland, 95 of these being regular priests, lhe number of missions north of the Tweed is 236, and there are 7393 chapels. It. is interesting to note that the total Catholic population of Scotland is close on 520,000, more than half that number being resident in the Glasgow, archdiocese. ' ' • Gaelic-Speaking Catholics in Nova Scotia : -Wrtting m the London 'Tablet*'- of -the' Gaelicspeakinf, Catholics of Nova Scotia; a clerical correspon-dent-says : In Antigonish an 'old- woman brought out from her breast a beautiful pectoral cross, a peculiar cross with two cross-bars ljke an archieuiscopal processional eross 1 , with an inscription, 'S. Ignati, ora--pro me.' ; on the reverse was ' Sine peccato origitaali.' I if she knew anything of the history of the cross. She replied * no,' only that she heard that it jance belonged to the Easbingcan bana, the ' fair Bishops. 1 -Now, the ' fair Bishops ' were Bishops John and Aeneas Chisholm, Vicars- Anostolic, who are buried in, the island of Lismore near Oban. She had it from her ■ mother-in-law, a Mrs. MacQuarrie, from the island of Eigg, in the '.Old Country,' whose maiden narre was MacDonnell. With these data, I wrote to the parish priest of