The Catholic World

New Zealand Tablet, 14 October 1909, Page 1631

The Catholic World

DENMARK— A Catholic Premier For the first time in their history, tfie Danes see at the head of the newly-formed Government a Catholic Prir&e^ Minister, Count Holstein-Ledreborg, who, at the age 'of ■ seventy, returns to political life after an- absence of some -_ twenty years, r \ • - _ - r ' " : ENGLAND— The King: and the Abbot - •/■>■■ King Edward .VII. has -once again acted. in a manner •which must give pain to, certain sections of his subjects. On August, 23 his Majesty lunched with- the- Abbot of'Tepl-, Marienbad, and later- on made the Abbot a Knight Coin-, mander of the Royal Victorian Order. ' N ;~- _ Catholics in the Navy „ . \ In the House of /Commons recently Mr. Hugh Batrie asked the First Lord of the Admiralty' what were- the imm- x ber of Catholics, Weselyans, and Presbyterian seamen in the Home Fleet, in the Atlantic Fleet, in the Mediterranean Fleet, and in the China. Squadron, respectively, as at December 31, 1908. . Mr. McKenna replied as follows: Home Fleet — Nore Division: 71"o Presbyterians, 835 Wesleyans, 905 Catholics; Portsmouth Division: 114 Presbyterians, 377 Wesleyans, 369 Catholics f Devonport Division: 285 Presbyterians, 648 Wesleyans, 1190 Catholics; Atlantic Fleet— 27l Presbyterians, 610 Wesleyans, 892 Catholics; Mediterranean Fleet— 339 Presbyterians, 588 Wesleyans, 1360 Catholics; China— 2o3 Presbyterians, 3U 'Wesleyans, 513 Catholics (including 11 native Catholics). St. Joseph's Foreign Missionary Society * The Very Rev. Father Henry, Superior-General of St.. . Joseph's Foreign Missionary Society, Mill Hill, London, left England on August 27 on a visitation of the missions ot the society in Borneo, the Philippines, and in Northern and Southern India. The society has upwards of IUU priests working in these distant missions. Father Henry expects to be away about eight or nine months. An Oid Catholic Family • The death of Mr. -William Joseph Blundell took pla.ce on August 19 at Crosby Hall, near /Mr. Blun-. dell was the head of one of the oldest Catholic families, in England. His brother, Francis Nicholas, who died in 1884, was the husband of Mrs. Blundell (' M. .E. Francis'), the novelist. Her son, Mr. Francis Nicholas ■ Blundell, is the next male heir. Westminster Cathedral . The High Altar of -Westminster Cathedral in Londonis hewn out of one solid block of stone. It was the mind of the late Cardinal Vaugban that conceived the idea to secure this monument for his Cathedral. Canon Moyes, referring to this fact, recently stated : ' The late Cardinal in his love for the Mass would have it so. It was, his wish that this hewn rock of fifteen tons of solid granite should, stand for all ages in the- midst of this great temple as • the Stone of Sacrifice, witnessing thereby to the saorincial character of the Mass^which the heresy of the sixteenth century denied, and as, an indestructible reparation tor the ruined altars and shattered altar stones which marked the havoc and apostasy of the Reformation. Catholics at the Front, We are but a comparatively small body in Great.;.; Britain— a couple of millions (says the Catholic T?mcs};v* But such is the excellence of the teaching m our secondary. •■ schools that Catholics continually distinguish themselves, •- in the public examinations. ■ - In our present issue we give .. lists of the Catholic successes at the- Oxford Local Exami-, nations. The record i^ remarkable. Our colleges, to which . Mr. Runciman is so sternly opposed, have -beaten all the •_ best endowed competing institutions in Great Britain. -Not^ ' in: one, but in, all the divisions, the Catholics; are first.-. They have performed the notable and most creditable ..fea r of securing the first place at -the Senior, the. Junior, and., the Preliminary examinations. .In the Junior, examinations, for which over 8200 -candidates sat, they obtained, the five first-places. Of^the 37 - who gained : honors in .the, . Preliminary examinations" 15 are Catholics. These .are. n brilliant, results. ' It is/evident \. that w % hav «f s > c fe^ material; that is to say, -an ...abundance of • talent m the „ ' voune, and that. the teachers know how to use it to thebest purpose. The Jesuit colleges at W mbledon and LiverpooV whose boys are at the head of the three divisions and all our other Catholic colleges, male and female, that Imve so signally 'shown how -superior, is the Catholic train- , ing deserve .the heartiest congratulations and L -thanks Year after year they leave rivals .behind and gather, freshlaurels'. . •'- •' * '' ~ J -*• FRANCE— Blessed Joan of Arc Monsignor Pecheiiard, Bishop of Soissons, has- addressed to the Holy- Father a formal petition to allow the fete of Joan of Arc to be celebrated in all the French dioceses.

By the recent decree of beatification the fete can at pre- - sent tie celebrated . only at Orleans. Bishop Pechenard likewise .suggests that ..the celebrations, should:,- be held on the same-rday throughout .France". -in"iorder.Vt6 l "facilitate the inevitable and speedy transformation of the fete of the Blessed Joan of "Arc into a national fote. GERMANY— Fortieth Anniversary of Ordination '- Twenty-four priests solemnly celebrated recently in St. Peter's Church, Cologne, the anniversary of their ordination by the late Cardinal Melchers. , ITALY— -The Holy Father's Solicitude To comment on the address sent to Rome by many of the survivors of the earthquake- at Messina would be super- "' . fiuous (writes a Rome correspondent), as the affection - shown in the document for him who has done so much 'to _ relieve „ them in their sad plight will be best understood . •"from the following translation from the Italian: — ' Y6ur_ c JJoliness, — In the terrible catastrophe that befell .us, -one of- consolation was always found in the cafe which x your Holiness always -had" for us, poor" soils of sorrow. Your paternal heart has found a balm for us in this hour of trial, and the thoughts of your angelic soul have been similar to those of your unfortunate sons. " By -your 'words and protection, by encouraging,' the charitable institutions in favor of the survivors, and vhy giving us "everything in your power, ;you, have lightened our.- .sorrower .Solicitous to know, .of A our' "distress, .to' .understand,' thoroughly all our miseries," ' you ' sent special" commissioners, 'from whom we learned- of ~the distress that filled- your ~hear,t, saddened and afflicted by" our. misfortiines,. arid of your/ generosity" and greatness, of soul.' If it -had been'possible, you would have ; dome," among us certainly, and. visited the fegiojns-of death ajid yourj_wolmde.d children-.-;; And\what comfor^ aifd consolation would - your august" .-presence- be to" us ! But the aXigel of this archdiocese,, "who yw-ith a. paternal, lieart has oovftfbrted and succored iis; knew hojy; to. -act irO-your stead. Holy Father, in the disaster wliich overturned and disorganised all things here in Sicily, while so many voices were raised to reprove incapable authorities and calumniating agents, your seraphic figure remained beautiful . and fascinating. Holy Father, we are grateful for all your solicitude, and we shall show" our gratitude by keeping always in union with the Chair of Peter and ever remaining your obedient sons. From this city which has received us so kindly we raise" our voices, in appreciation and love and ask you for the Apostolic Benediction.' The document was sent to the' H6ly Father from Catania, Sicily, where many thousand Messinians have found shelter. ROME— Restoration Work at St. Peter's For some time (writes a Rome correspondent) the - small army of artists in the constant employment of the Vatican has been employed in the restoration of the marble pavement of "St. Peter's, with which time and the tread of millions have wrought sad havoc. The new pavement will be laid according to the designs of the old, and will, it is reckoned, cost about 380,000 lire, 100,000 of which has been already donated to the chapter of the Basilica -by "Pius -X. „«A large quantity of marbles has already - "been acquired/for the project, almost every kind and color of - the .ston-e^'ljeing represented in the collection. Seeing that, according to the measurements made of St. Peter's before the workmeu commenced the latest restoration, the area, of the floor of the great, church is 12,275 metres, we are not surprised to hear a few years must elapse before - the completioji of the" task.- -Another renovation in, tho \". Apostolic Basilica concerns the famous treasury contained ,:.-, "^therein. Here vessels in gold, precious stones, pricelesss »i "^tapestries, and -.vestments, valuable by reason of their his- .' 1 - . toric^" interest as well as their intrinsic.' worth, -have been ,'- .stored for generations, and- shown- liberally to the public ■ ; - for jthe asking. But it'mustjbe said' that -the chambers ■ were, faiv from being- in -keepings with 'the- dignity of' the objects kept there,, a fact that the authorities Hiave recognised, as they are now engagedi-iri selecting. a,> more suitable >' place for the treasure. _•-... /-.•*- ;„ An International Gift. ''-•"•- „ , -. . - The Milan correspondent of- an English paper states • that -an international committee has been .formed," with the /, ' object - of . presenting to the, Pope, in - commemoration of - „. his forthcoming episcopal- golden., jubilee, X. colossal 'church -r-L "organ for installation;. in St.. .- Peterjg. i ""Besides the small *. . organs, in the side -chapels, thes«§a*re at present only two '"■'; :. very, inferior instruments; ' 'Syluch are -.wheeled about to f ' "" whatever part of the great church a choral service happens to be in progress. The Pope has already {riven his sanction to the proposal, and in addition to Cardinal Ram- ' polla, various foreign Cardinals, also the renowned com- " ' poser, Camille Saint Saevs, and the Duke of Norfolk have Moined the committee. The 'problem of designing such an v- " instrument as would- harmonise with, the proportions and i>- '. style of the great building -is- a difficult one," and so far all specifications sent in pay insufficient attention to this matter. A Roman ecclesiastical dignitary suggests that perhaps* 1 some enterprising firm of . British ■: organ-builders V might seize upon this unicme occasion i,6 create a 'design which would meet all requirements.

SCOTLAND— An Ancient Statue ._> ■ In 1 the Church of,. the. Sacred Heart, Edinburgh (says the Catholic Serald), thef t e.'is a statue ofjthe Madonna and Child, -the only Pfe-Reformation statue of its kind in Scotland. It is looked on as one of the greatest treasures of the Churchy Carved in oak, it is supposed to date from the' fifteenth or sixteenth century, and bears a most striking resemblance to a Btatue which at one time belonged to Aberdeen, but which is now in Brussels, a splendid -reproduction of which is to be found in St. Ninian's Church, Restalrig. The ancient statue was purchased from a dealer about 1859 by Mr. Charles Waterton, the eminent naturalist, and one of the most distinguished alumni of Stonyhurst. The dealer, bought ' it at the London residence of the Earls of Aberdeen, consequently there is a high probability that the present statue in possession of the Jesuit Fathers at Lauriston is of Aberdonian origin.