The Catholic World

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXVII, Issue 19, 13 May 1909, Page 751

The Catholic World

BELGIUM— The Worth of the Catholic Press The Corrispondenza Humana publishes an interesting interview with Cardinal Mercier, Primate of Belgium, on the subject of the Catholic press. His Eminence is represented as having made the following statement : ' Talking about newspapers, permit me to express the pain I feel every time I" come to Rome and find that the immorab and anti-clerical press is every day gaining ground. This morning I went to celebrate Mass at the Church of S. Francesca Rom an am the Forum. It was early, and near the church stood a newsveridor. Every one of the working men who passed by bought his paper, and went on his way reading it attentively. They were all anti-clerical sheets. And then I thought: How is it that you do not succeed in giving greater development and circulation to the Catholic press in Rome? Take my word for it — the necessity of consecrating all our forces to the development of the press is a necessity of capital importance at the present moment. I, Bishop as I am, would delay the building of a church in order to help in tho founding of a newspaper.' ENGLAND — Proposed Presentation Father Bernard Vaughan has been appointed chairman of the committee which has been formed to organise a presentation to the Very Rev. Dean Ring on~the occasion of the silver jubilee of his ordination. Dean Ring, who is a native of Kerry, has spent practically all his missionary life amongst the poor in the East End of London. Catholics and Education The Right Rev. Dr. Whitesidc, Bishop of Liverpool, after having laid the memorial stone at a new school ;iL Peasley Cross, said Catholics believed the school to be the vestibule of the Church, and that any Church which neglected its schools was doomed to extinction. Catholics were determined that their schools should go on ; and as they had made great sacrifices, they deserved special consideration at the hands of the Government. Woman Suffrage Whatever one's views may be- on the hotly-debated question of woman suffrage (says the Catholic Weekly), it must be admitted now, after the impressive list of distinguished names which has been published in the Times, that the movement has made great headway, and that it is very probable that at no distant date women will have the same voting rights as men. "We have never been able to see any solid reason why they should nob, whilst we can see several good reasons why they should. Member of a Well-known Catholic Family Mr. Walter Weld, a well-known Catholic solicitor and a member of a branch "of the Weld family, of Luhvorth Castle, passed away recently at Birkdale. Mr. Weld, who was seventy-seven years of age, was born at Leagram Park, near Preston, and was the son of / Mr. "George Weld, whose birth was as remote as the year 1786. He was the last surviving nephew of the late Cardinal Weld, and was educated at Stony hurst College. Stony lmrst was formerly one of the residences of the family, and was given to the Jesuit Order by Mr. Weld's grandfather, Mr. Thomas Weld. He practised as a solicitor in Liverpool for many years, having been admitted in 1854, and was the trusted legal adviser of a number of the county families. He was a man of rare culture, maintaining his love of the classics and of various .departments of natural science right up to the last. He leaves a widow, .four sons, two of whom are members of the^ Jesuit Order, and two daughters, one of whom is a nun. ROME— The Holy Father's Name Day On the Feast of St. Joseph and the name day of Pius X., his Holiness received -countless telegrams from all parts of the world, from Kings, Emperors, and heads of States, as well as from Bishops and Catholic Associations, conveying warm good wishes for the occasion. On the same day, his Holiness received the members of the Sacred College in private audience. Their Eminences offered their good wishes for a long and prosperous pontificate, which his Holiness acknowledged in a short . but cordial address. The Rector of San Silvestro The Rev. Father Whitmee, the Rector of San Silvestro, who had an apoplectic stroke in 1907, has had another seizure, and was lying at the point of death when the last mail left Home. The Holy Father, being informed of his -condition by Mgr. John Vaughan, sent him the Apostolic Benediction in articulo mortis.

Offerings to The Holy Father

The Right Rev. Moiisignor O'Riordan has presentevl to the Pope £776, as an offering from the archdiocese of Cashel and the dioceses of Elphin, Droniore, and Derry; also a personal offering from the Bishop of Killaloe. His Holiness expressed his cordial thanks. St. Patrick's Day At the Irish College, Rome, his Eminence Cardinal Satolli. celebrated tho Community Mass and. administered Holy Communion to tho students on the morning of St. Patrick's Day. Pontifical High' Mass was sung at 10.30 by Archbishop Panici, Secretary of the Sacred Congregation of Rites. At the same hour Archbishop Seton, Titular of Holiopolis, sang Pontifical High- Mass in St. Isidore's of the Irish Franciscans. The panegyric of the National Apostle was preached by the Very Rev. David Fleming, 0.F.M., Consultor to the Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office, before a large congregation, over a third part of which were non-Catholics. SCOTLAND— The Late Father Angus The following tribute was paid recently to the memory of Rev. Father Angus, ' of St. Andrews, Fife, by a nonCatholic, Rev. R. W. Wallace, of,. St. Leonards parish church : 'It would ill become us,~ as a Christian congregation, to part this morning, without- a reference to the loss this community has felt in-- the sudden death of Father Angus. Though his health had been visibly failing for some time, the end came very quickly, and was a shock to us all. Of his actual -work in the ministry here I knew very little, but we all knew his public spirit, hia interest in the good of the community, his love for St. AndreAvs, especially for the remains of its ancient piety and art. He was the master of a swift and incisive pen, which, like his spoken word, was clear and straightforward. No one was ever left in doubt as to his meaning. Nor could anyone fail to appreciate his ready humor and the smile which illuminated his kindly features. A soldier, a priest, a patriotic citizen, an accomplished man of the world, he was above all things a gentleman, generous, kind, and courteous. To those of us who had the privilege of his friendship his loss is a ttlow very hard to estimate, of which it is difficult to speak. * Papal Distinction Mr. Stuart A. Coats, Papal Chamberlain, who accompanied Cardinal Vannutelli, Pontifical Legate, at the Eucharistic Congress in London, has received from the Holy Father the ' Commenda ' of the Order of St. Gregory the Great. SOUTH AFRICA Silver Jubilee The silver jubilee of Mother M. Joseph (Ryan), Prioress Provincial of the Dominican Sisters in Natal, was celebrated on March 1 at the mother house -of the Order at Oakford, Natal, and was attended by a large number of prominent Catholic prelates, Sisters, laymen, and noted chiefs of the Kaffir and Zulu tribes of Natal. The convent buildings were decorated for the occasion with British, American, and Papal flags, and presented an attractive appearance. STATES— A Soldier-priest The Rev. William A. Olmstead, the soldier-priest, who was breveted Brigadier-General for bravery during the Civil War, and who, after a distinguished career as a soldier, doctor, engineer, and traveller, became a priest at the age of sixty-six, died on March 8, at St. Vincent's Hospital, New York. Father Olmstead's ordination took place in 1900, at Notre Dame, Indiana, and for two years he was attached to Notre Dame University. In 1902 he became affiliated with the New York archdiocese. Although Father Olmstead was seventy-J&ve years of age, he was as active, until his fatal illness, as a. man of half his years. The See of Cleveland ' c The nomination of the- Right Rev. Mgr. Farrelly to the Bishopric of Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.A., has given a good deal of pleasure to his many friends. Mgr. Farrelly has discharged for several years the duties of spiritual director in the Noith American College, Rome.