The Catholic World

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXVII, Issue 11, 18 March 1909, Page 431

The Catholic World

ENGLAND— The Holy Father and the Government The following communication has been issued from , Archbishop's House, Westminster, to, the press : — ' The " Holy Father has desired the Archbishop of Westminster .to __ convey to his Majesty's Government his 'heartfelt thanks for the services rendered" to his - spiritual^cliildren, espcci^ _ ally at Reggio, by the officers and men of the Royal Nayy.~ His Holiness makes a specially grateful allusion to the efforts that they made .to provide not only for the .material , relief ,of the victims of the earthquake, but also for their v spiritual wants. The Archbishop has communicated .the Holy Father's message to- the Prime. Minister.' r The Holy Father's Appreciation : The" -Holy Father, at the request., and- on. the reconv*? mendation ' of the Archbishop of Westminster, has been pleased to bestow on Mr. T. W. Hunter, M.A., of Archbishop's House, Westminster, the Knighthood of the Order of St. Gregory the Great, in recognition of the services , Which he has rendered for many years as secretary of the Westminster Diocesan Education Fund, and of • the Diocesan Schools Association, especially in connection with, the recent Crisis Fund. On the same recommendation, his Holiness has also conferred on Mr. John Gilbert, 8.A., the Knighthood of the Order of St. Sylvester, as a mark of his high appreciation of the very important work which Mr. Gilbert has done in the cause of Catholic "education. Help for the Italian Sufferers His Grace the Archbishop of Westminster has forwarded to the Holy Father the first instalment of £600 of the collection that is being made in the Westminster diocese for the sufferers by the earthquake. FRANCE— Joan of Arc The Decree aivbhorising the -Beatification of Joan of Arc was read in the ' Hall of the' Consistory on Sunday-, January 24, in the presence of. the Holy Father. His Holiness delivered an a'ddross horn the Gospel "of the day, in which the; healing of 'the lepei> and of the centurion's servant is narrated. "He prayed the Venerable Joan of Arc to intercede with Almighty God on behalf of modern so-, ciety, which so much needed to be cleansed of -the .leprosy of atheism with. which.^t:, was so sadly disfigured. The Religious Situation The, religious situation m France is, from one point of view, as bad as it well could be""-(remarks~the Catholic Weekly). But there is a point of view seen from which the situation is most hopeful. An admirable unity binds the clergy to the Bishops, and the Bishops to the Holy See; and there is a most devout and devoted, body of lay men and women, small, perhaps, in .comparison with the great body of the population, but sufficiently large and in-, fluential to save the. nation from absolute infidelity. The „ Archbishop of Montreal, Mgr." Bruchesi, .who has just been on a visit to France, has expressed sentiments to a representative of the Times which, we think, "furnish the correct view of the religious situation -in that' country. 'What impressed me greatly during- my" sojourn in France,' said his Grace, ' was the admirable union of all the Bishops with the Pope, and the devotion of the Catholic "population for their Bishops and clergy." - While" I have confidence in the future, I fear it Ayill be long before the Church* can contemplate the positioirtof affairs in Franco with satisfaction.' 0. ■ ; - GERMANY— The Leader of the Centre Count Hompesch, loader of the Centre, passed a^yay ou January 21, and his remains were consigned to the grave in Berlin after a Requiem Mass in. St. Hedurg's Church, at which all the German political parties, were represented. . The Count was the leader of the Centre, for a period of fifteen years: He was not a, man of very brilliant parts (says the Catholic Times), but in the sterling qualities that win lasting respect he was- not inferior to hfs N friendg. Mallinckrodt, Franckensteinj Windthorst, and Lieber. Amidst difficulties he was ever confident of success, and to his followers he was true as steel. He always lived up to the principles he professed. Dr. Schaedler, who delivered his panegyric at -the service in St. Hedurg's Church, observed that he was a true desendant of Heinrich von Hompesch, of "whom chroniclers declare, that Le was ' the bravest "and most pious -of knights.' CountHompesch heard Mass each morning, was a frequent Communicant, and never allowed any duties, public or private, .to interfere' with his devotions. He carried, his beads into the Reichstag, and however urgent the demands on his time never neglected to recite the Rosary before, retiring

.to sleep.. A soldier^ of the -.Cross, •he gave, special directions "on. the .approach of " death - that that .sacred, symbol v&hould appear on the plate of his ' coffin.-. Throughout his long career he never knew fear and never laid himself open to reproach. INDIA— A Venerable Prelate His Grace Archbishop Colgan, of Madras, is said to be the oldest prelate of the present day. He was working in India several years before the provinces of Otago or Canterbury were founded. • " - "• ITALY— The Government and Earthquake Victims When the I)eputy de Felice accused the' ltalian- Govern- > ; Government of having caused the loss of ,20,000 lives in --Messina, by its neglect,- or rather its red-tape re_g\ilations 3 ■-many considered his accusation uncalled for (says a Eome .-correspondent). However, the. public have wakened ,iip the .fact, 'that perhaps the number" of those. who have" left to die beneath the debris may be anything 'from 10,000 to 30,000., The- want of a sufficient number of men, the absence of any plan, the attention paid to guarding property, while the owners .of it were either buried in the ruins or shivering in the :rain and crying^ for a " crust, and' a spirit of general distrust in, which 1 -; every_maii thought his neighbor a rogue,^avle\ca"us'ej>th'e .Joss of. more , lives jr^' Messina, than "the earth^uak^e.T^-Eyeh^theV staid Osservatore' Romano has joined,.in "the - outcry -raised on account of .the delay _in succoring people-r^boih; those above", and below the .'ruins— and " now , speaks" plainly 1 of fbhe. .thousands -left to. die .beneath ;their -houses : JTlie,' Cor*S±rtyg£e\d'ltalia has been -imploring 'the d&y after S^oTay/Tfco do; away with • its ■ red .tape arrangements cpfne C^with " a' quick' hand 1 and ' wbole^ hdart r^-t'd/ > «bhe' fi '.hglp;4'i6f > ; the survivors. - - " • •' --;,''-, r- - <r :•- '„?£ , '"■ -' The Clergy of Messina It is against the clergy of Messina (says the Catholic, Times) that Admiral Mirabello, the Italian Minister of Marine, directed his reproach when he remarked that they were not to be seen amongst the sufferers. We have statel in oxir columns that the Admiral, .if he^hadr, moved much amongst the injured himself, would haye seen them — all that remained of them — and information contained in an . article published by the Specta,tor confirms- the assertion. The Archbishop was buried for nearly fifty hours in his oratory, where, deprived of light, air, food, and water, he remained continually in prayer until ho "Was extricated. N Then, after a little sleep' to revive his . strength, he set to ' work . energetically in the' organisation 'of relief. t As to his clergy, observes our contemporary, they were more than decimated, and how could the Minister see them conspicuous in rescuing others, when so many of them wanted rescuing themselves? What actually happened to the clergy we find set forth in an official state- ■ ,ment which has been prepared at the instance of the Archbishop and,-,is given by the Corriere d'ltalia. From this reliable document we learn that on the eve of the disaster there "were m. Messina one Hundred and eight priests. Of these "twenty-one ■ were invalids or too old for duty. There were therefore eighty-seven in active service. In tlie earthquake twenty-seven • were killed, and twenty-one were buried under the debris and "more or less seriously injured. " Thirty-nine" who were fit for active labor escaped, and of - that, number thirty r one "went about relieving and consoling the afflicted. . " '-„, ROME— the Devotion of the Nuns,,sL "t v * ' The, devotion and heroism. of thXfitWis of the -Little | Company of Mary, Rome, in, connections with' the~ Calabrian i • earthquake. -have (says' the Catholic, Wgbkly)!- excited considerable "adm^ratibn-evenin-'qiiartors "^here nuns'/are not much" liked. % The English press has/pliDlfehed- a 'J&euter - telegram which should help to rectify the. wronglieadedn«3s ..of those sections of Evangelicals in England .w,ho still .worry their representatives an .parliament," tlieir neighbors, and themselves on the subject of nuns. - Tlie telegram"' is as follows: — 'A report' from Calabria says^ thas , f our English J niins of the' Little Company 'of Mary s ' inowii as the -" Bluo Sisters," are' doing .wonders in Works' of charity-rr-nursing the wounded, helping the needy, 1 ,^ and looking after the children — and are arousing the admiration of the authorities, especially the officers. In the home of the " Bl'jo Sisters " here, the hospital being already overcrowded, all the sitting-rooms are being transformed into^ hospital wards and lodgings for the refugees.'.