Intercolonial

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXVII, Issue 7, 18 February 1909, Page 275

Intercolonial

Advice has been received in Sydney of the serious illness of his Lordship Bishop Olier, of Tonga, who recently returned home" after a holiday trip to Sydney. His Grace the Archbishop of Hobart arrived in Melbourne from Europe on February 2, and was welcomed at Port Melbourne by the Very Rev. Dean Phelan, ,V.G. His Lordship Dr. Duhig, Bishop of Rockhampton, has issued a circular to the clergy of the diocese, in which it is definitely announced that he will leave for Rome early in May. The Brigidine nuns have purchased the priory at South Melbourne from the Carmelite Fathers for a convent. They have also houses at Echuca, Wangaratta, Beechworth, and Mentone in Victoria. The Rev. Brother Culligan, of the Christian Brothers, has arrived in Western Australia to take charge of the Christian Brothers' College, St; George's Terrace, Perth, during the absence of the Rev. Brother Nunan,- who takes a much-needed holiday. The Rev. J. O'Neill, rector (Castlemaine) ; Rev. T. O'Neill, rector (Casterton); Very Rev. T. F. O'Neill, P.P. (Gawler, .^.A.) h?ve returned from a twelye-months' visit to Europe. The rev. gentlemen, who are brothers, have greatly benefited by their travels, and speak in the highest praise of the kindness they experienced-. „ . " The Rev. N. Cooney, Inspector of- Catholic schools i:i the diocese of Bathurst, will shortly be leaving JDubbo for a new parish. The change has l>een decided upon by his Lordship Dr. Dunne, with a view to relieving the Rev. Father Cooney of many of the duties devolving upon him in such a large town as Dubbo. His Lordship Bishop O'Connor presided at an enthusiastic meeting of Catholics in Armidale on Sunday, January 31, to consider the important qiiestion of extending and improving the present cathedral, or erecting a new one. It was decided unanimously to undertake the erection cf a new cathedral, at an approximate cost of £15,000, on a site in juxtaposition to the present St. Mary's Cathedral. Over £3300 was subscribed at tlie meeting. His Lordship Dr. O'Connor donated £1100. The Sisters of Mercy (says tlie Advocate) will, in a few weeks, take possession of the magnificent building erected on that commanding site on the " Flemington hill. Originally, this" place was the property of the McCracken family, and the old family mansion, whicli is in splendid condition, remains there. Previous to the Archbishop's departure for Europe this fine property was purchased, and since then the main wing of the novitiate has been erected. The archdiocese of Sydney <says 'the Advocate) is to have a junior diocesan seminary, in addition to St. Patrick's College at Manly. The new building, which is being erected on the Blue Mountains, two miles from Springwood, will be known as St. Columba's Missionary College, where priests will be trained for the missions of Australasia, Polynesia, Southern Asia, China, and Japan. It is the second ecclesiastical college his Eminence Cardinal Moran has founded since he assumed charge of the See of Sydney, and on "the feast of the Epiphany he blessed the foundation stone. The opening will synchronise with the Third Australasian Catholic Congress, postponed from last year till towards the end of the present year, when it will form one' of- the~series of. functions connected with thi? notable gathering. The builders calculate on having their part of the contract completed- before the close of September next. Only little more than half the building is being put up now, but, with the purchase of the land, the cosl will probably reach about £15,000. < The Jesuit Order in particular and the Church in general (remarks the Advocate) have lost a cultured and fearless champion by the lamented death of the Rev. William Kelly, S.J., who may be said to have died in harness, as when the summons came the rev. gentlema.n held the chair of Ecclesiastical History in the famous college of his Order at Milltoivn Park, near. Dublin, Ireland. On Sunday, January 31, the Superior of the Jesuit Fathers in Australia received a cable message announcing the death of Father Kelly at ~th« ripe old age of 86 years. Father Kelly wast a native of Dublin, and came out to Australia in 1865. For years he labored zealously and fruitfully in Melbourne and Sydney. In the latter city he was wont to deliver two lectures a week on ecclesiastical subjects. He was lecturer on Moral Philosophy at St. John's College within the Sydney . University, and he taught at" the Jesuit Colleges there: He left Australia in 1889, and labored in Ireland up to the time of his death.