Not from a Catholic School

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXVII, Issue 1, 7 January 1909, Page 22

Not from a Catholic School

Here is an extract from a recent issue of the Melbourne, Argus : — • Kilmore, Saturday. — At the court of petty sessions this morning, before Messrs. P. Skehan and L. J. McDougall, J.P.s, a juvenile witness in an assault case, named Ray Wade, aged 13, was asked what would" happen to him if he did not tell the truth, and the boy said that he did not know. - ' Mr. McNab (who was defending the case). — Do you know what God is? — No, I don't. ' Mr. Skehan (chairman). — Do you' mean to say that you do not know who God is? — No, I don't know who He is. (Sensation.) ' Mr. McNab contended that the boy's evidence was useless, seeing that he did not know his Creator. (To the boy). — Do you know what will happen to you if you tell lies in the witness-box? . , . 'The Boy.— No, I don't know anything about God or what will happen to me.' We have had, within the past two years, a few similar cases before the New Zealand courts. And the Anglican Bishop of Auckland avers that such appalling ignorance of religious truth is far more common among us than most people are willing to suppose. It is hardly necessary to say that such a condition of things could not be found among children educated in our Catholic schools. It is a joint product of godless State schools and careless homes.