The Catholic World

New Zealand Tablet, 10 December 1908, Page 31

The Catholic World

CANADA— Church Extension A movement of great importance and one with possibilities incalculable within -its grasp, is that' of the Catholic Church Extension of Canada^ which has just been launched upon its mission under auspices that speak for its continuance and success. At its head are the Archbishops of Toronto and Quebec and the Bishop of Chaflottetown, P.E.1., besides a number of prominent laymen. The objects of the movement as scheduled are : To foster and extend the Catholic Faith in Canada by (a) cultivating a missionary spirit in the clergy and people, (b) founding a college for the education of missionaries, (c) the building and equipping of chapels in pioneer districts, (d) contributing to the support of poor missions, (c) circulation of Catholic literature, and every other means proper to the main purpose of the Society. All over Canada vast areas exist where the wants which this organisation will fill, cry loudly for notice and assistance. Hundreds of miles in many districts may be travelled without sign of the cross or steeple that proclaim the temple of Catholicity, and these same districts are sometimes altogether strangers to the consoling ministrations of the priesthood of God's Church. In Western Canada especially this condition of things has, up to the present, been unavoidable. The population outside of large centres is scattered, distances are great, missionaries so far arc few and money and means generally scarce. ENGLAND— The Late Lord Herries The late Lord Herries, the inscription plate on whose coffin, by the waj% bore the name Marmaduke — not Charles — Francis Constable Maxwell, took a deep interest in the Association for the Propagation of the Faith and held the office of President of the Council for Great Britain. He was also much interested in the work of the Catholic Record Society. A National Pilgrimage On October 19 the first aud second sections of the National pilgrimage to Rome left London. The two parties numbered close on 400. Among those travelling with the pilgrimage were the Bishops of Birmingham, Portsmouth, Salford, Northampton, Hexham, and Auckland. The third section, consisting of 300 persons, left on the following day. A Popular Priest The popular and patriotic Superior of St. Anne's, Spitalfields, E., the Very Rev. Father Murphy, has been elected Provincial of the Marist Order in England (writes a London correspondent). Although his new duties will engage a considerable part of his time, it is xinderstood that he will not sever his connection with St. Anne's. The new Provincial of the Marist Order is very popular with all sections of the community in East London. For years he has taken an active part in the administration of the Poor Law in the district. He is vice-chairman of the" Whitechapel Board of Guardians, and possesses the confidence and goodwill of all the members of that body. Father Murphy has tieen for a considerable time, attached to the Marist Mission at SpitalfLelds, first as assistant to the late Father Kearney, and late as Superior. As president of' the local branch of the League of the Cross he has been an active worker in the temperance movement in London, an-1 has spoken at many public meetings organised by the League. /

A Diamond Jubilee The celebration of the diamond jubilee of St. George's Cathedral, Southwark, was an event in which widespread interest was taken by the Catholics of London. In connection with the jubilee a Requiem Mass was celebrated in memory of Provost Thomas Doyle and all deceased bishops, clergy, and laity of the diocese. Provost Doyle, who was appointed to what was then known as St. George's Chapel in 1820, was the founder of the Cathedral, it being due to his exertions that the necessary funds were secured and the site in St. George's Fields purchased in 1840 for £3200. Preaching at a special High Mass of Thanks-

giving in connection with the celebrations Monsignor Croke Robinson referred to the great progress that had . been made during the past sixty years. He said : — Let them compare the diocese as it was in the year 1851 with its position to-day. , At the commencement of that year, although extremely large — extending over the South-East of England — it possessed only 67 priests and 57 churches and chapels. To-day, despite having been reduced in size, there were 507 clergy and 367 churches and chapels ; whilst las regards religious Orders there were at the present "time 31 houses of religious men and 63 of women. Then the population of the diocese had enormously increased, being nW 100,000, as compared with 28,000, the estimated population of the three counties half a, century ago. The activity of Catholic Southwark was proverbial, and every week v in their papers they found records of continued progress. With its past history several names were associated, notably those of the saintly Bishop Grant, his predecessor,. James Danell, who died in 1881 ; Bishop Butt, -and lastly Archbishop Bourne, who in 1903 was translated io Westminster ; whilst in connection with the administration of the Cathedral lie might mention Provost; Moore, Canon Murnane, Canon Keatinge, and. the present able administrator, Father Sprankling. c ROME— Pilgrims from many Lands Since the Jubilee celebrations connected with the fiftieth year of the Holy jl> ather' s priesthood opened (writes a Rome correspondent under date, October 18), probably no week has seen so many foreign faces in the Vatican as tho one just passed. At the commencement of the week, Pius X. received a Hungarian pilgrimage composed of 700 Catholics, all of whom appeared before the Holy Father dressed in the rich, picturesque costumes of their country. This has been the second pilgrimage that has come to Rome from Hungary within the past four months. Next, a body of one thousand pilgrims arrived from Lombardy, headed by Cardinal Ferrari, Archbishop of Milan. This again was followed the subsequent day by a Tuscan pilgrimage under the leadership of Cardinal Maffi, Archbishop of Pisa, which represented six dioceses. The pilgrims numbered ovor 800. A deputation of Catholics from Iceland and Denmark was rather a new sight even for the centre of Christendom. They came to offer Pius X. the congratulations of his spiritual subjects in those distant parts. Then there came Armenian prelates and laymen from Alexandria in Egypt, on behalf of the Armenian Catholics, to be succeeded by another deputation from the other side of the world. This latter body was made up of Mexicans who had been deputed to convey the felicitations of their co-religion-ists to the Father of the faithfiil. The Elementary School Question In the Eternal City the elementary school question gives as much anxiety to all interested in the maintenance of Christian education as it does in England (writes a Rome correspondent). The Municipal Council, with its Freemason head and its very anti-Christian membership, is determined to secularise the schools completely. At present religious education is allowed in the school buildings, although only outside school hours and at the expense of the parents. . The council has it in .mind now to refuse absolutely the use of the school ' buildings for this purpose. Whether the council will succeed- in its. nefarious design remains to be seen. There is "evidence of an awakening on the part of parents; but, unfortunately, tho conduct of parents y in Rome for many years past does not give one much ground for hope that #,ny effective check will be put in the way of the council! Catholic parents who abet anti-Christian men to be their representatives in their councils cannot be relied upon. SCOTLAND— The Marist Brothers in Glasgow In 1858 the Marist Brothers first began to work in the second city of the Empire (writes a Glasgow correspondent), and ever since that date their labors in the cause of Catholic education have won the deep and ever-increasing adc miration of the citizens of Glasgow, Catholics and Protestants alike. St. Mungo's Academy, Townhead, has had a career of fifty years of unqualified success; the sohool, . which, in the words of the Brothers' prospectus, aims at providing ' a training both thoroughly religious and thoroughly practical,' comprises three separate departments —

preliminary, higher grade intermediate, and higher grade advanced — all of which are regularly examined by H.M. inspectors. It is proposed to celebrate the jubilee of the college with suitable recognition of its immense value as an educational asset both to the Catholic' religion and to tlie social life of Scotland generally. A Catholic Judge

The appointment of Mr. William Campbell, a Catholic, as Court of Sessions judge in Scotland, tlie first appointment of "a Catholic to the ocottish Bench since the ' Reformation,' has excited a good deal of interest at both sides of the Border. The Superior Council of the St. Vincent de Paul Society of Glasgow have forwarded to Lord Skerrington, president of the Superior Council of Edinburgh, their lieartiest congratulations on his elevation to the Judicial Bench of Scotland. Skcrrington, the title assumed by 3VIr. William Campbell, K.C., is an Ayrshire estate owned liy the new judge. UNITED STATES— A Son of an Irish Patriot

Admirers of John Mitchel, author of Ihe Jail Journal, ■will learn with regret (says the Catholic Times) of the death of his son, Captain James Mitchel, in New York, on October 5. He died a Catholic, and was interred, after a High Mass at St. Francis Xavier's, at Woodlawn Cemetery. Captain Mitchel was born in Newry in 1840. Vacant Sees

An unusual number of Sees arc vacant in the United States at present. Nominations soon to bo made are an archbishop for Santa Fc and a coadjutor for San Francisco ; now bishops for Cleveland, and for the new diocese of Toledo, O. ; coadjutors and assistant bishops for Detroit, Syracuse, Burlington, Vt., Baltimore, New Orleans, Dubuque, Cincinnati, and Milwaukee. No Rivalry

Referring to the fact that the Stato of Louisiana maintains an asylum for lepers, which it has given in charge to Catholic Sisters, the Avc Maria remarks : 'We are not aware that Protestants of any denomination have ever objected to this action on the part of the State Government, or claimed the right of sharing in the Sisters' service.'