Current Topics

New Zealand Tablet, 24 March 1910, Page 449

Current Topics

A Thought for Easter 'Not a few good people,' says the Lutheran Observer (American), constantly perplex themselves about the resurrection of : the body. They do not know how God can gather their bodies up again, the dust of which may have been scattered by the four winds of heaven. We do not need to know how in order to believe the fact. We believe in the resurrection of the body because we believe in. God, and believe in His word. Dr. George Pentecost, the evangelist, in replying to the charge of folly made against those who believe that God will raise the dead, gave this beautiful illustration: "There is a story told of a workman of the great .chemist Faraday. One day he knocked into a jar of acid a little silver cup. It disappeared, was eaten up by the acid, and couldn't be found. The question came up whether it could ever be found. One said he could find it; another said it was held in solution, and there was no possibility of finding it. The great chemist came in and put some chemical into the jar, and in a moment every particle of silver was precipitated to the bottom. He lifted it out a shapeless mass, sent it to a silversmith, and the cup was restored. If Faraday could precipitate that silver and recover his cup, I believe God can restore my sleeping and scattered dust." ' The Usual Tale One of the latest recreations of some of the members of the more aggressive Protestant Associations in England is the sending of anti-Catholic tracts, anonymously, in sealed envelopes, to leading Catholics, usually accompanied by a brief line—unsigned—expressing the pious hope that the careful reading of the missive would lead to the recipient's speedy ' conversion.' Not only laymen, but members of the clergy and even Catholic editors, have been the subject of these benevolent attentions. The nuisance is likely to be abated in the near future, however, thanks to the prompt action of an intelligent layman. The particulars of the incident are recorded in the London Catholic Herald. A Mr. James A. —address given had received a copy of a pamphlet entitled ' The Adventures of a Bible in Ireland,' in which it is alleged that a number of Catholics, including a nun, were converted through the mere reading of a Protestant Bible. Mr. Walsh at once applied in writing to the author of the —the Rev. J. H. Townsend, D.D., St. Mark's Vicar- . age, Tunbridge Wellsfor more definite details regarding the events referred to in the story. The Batley News, Mr. Walsh wrote, says that Mr. Townsend is willing,to furnish these details to any inquirer, and he, therefore, asks for —' 1. The date of the alleged occurrence. 2. The name of the priest mentioned in your story. 3. The name and locality of the convent in Dublin.' The reply he received from the Rev. Townsend was as evasive as it was brief. It ran: 'Dear Sir, —I am in receipt of your letter, and in reply beg to state that I know nothing of the newspaper to which you refer; therefore, of course, I am not bound by any statements which it may have made about me:' . ;•' .*" Naturally Mr. Walsh was not satisfied with this communication, and he said so in the following plain terms: ' Reverend Sir,l have to thank you for your note received this morning, but I cannot regard such a reply as satisfactory. You commence your story by informing the reader that it is true, and that the date of the occurrence appears in an old note-book in your possession. Could you not have supplied me at least with this meagre information? However, I did not expect it, and am, therefore, not disappointed. The Batley News to which I referred in my previous letter says: " It is a story the accuracy of which the writer vouches for, and is prepared to prove to anyone who will communicate with him." I leave you to settle the matter in your own time with the editor of the Batley Neics. That does not concern me at all; but the fact , that your tract was forced upon me by being sent anonymously in a sealed envelope does concern me, and in requesting you to furnish some evidence of the truth of . its contents I am only asking for what, under the circumstances, I am entitled to. As I suspected, you are palpably unable to supply any proof, and I have no hesitation in characterising your " story " as something far worse. It is a reckless and disgraceful fabrication! — truly, etc' It is the old, old story. These good people give full rein to their imagination, and then, when called upon ■ to furnish proof of their fairy tales, they are willing to fall back on any subterfuge in order to evade responsibility.

Slattery Once Again Those malodorous adventurers— Slatterys— still making their uneasy pilgrimages over the face of the planet, unable anywhere to find rest for the- soles of their feet, • and in their own persons - fulfilling to the very letter the words of Scripture, ' Clouds without water; raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own confusion; wandering stars, ■' to whom the storm of darkness is reserved.' Slattery, who, by the way, has blossomed "out into the Rev. Dr. Slattery,' is still at the .same old dirty game, but is, metaphorically speaking, meeting - everywhere with heavy weather. From the ill-starred moment when Ihe first showed his face and that of his fradulent accomplice in New Zealand, Slattery has been more or less a haunted man. The crushing exposure contained in Father Cleary's pink pamphlets has dogged his footsteps, and he has hardly succeeded in effecting a landing in a place when he is • chivvied ' and moved on.' It will be remembered that Hobart was his first call after leaving New Zealand, and on arrival—thanks to an advance instalment of the pamphlets—he found that the halls of the city, with the exception of one very small one, were closed against him. A big price was offered for the Tasmanian Hall, but the offer was refused with thanks. The municipal authorities set their faces hard as flint against the unsavory pair, and refused them the use of the Town Hall. Whereupon there arose among Slattery's Orange supporters the usual clamor for 'free speech: that is to say, for free abuse and free filth. A deputation waited, with voluble protests, upon the Mayor of Hobart, who dismissed them without his blessing after forcibly reminding them that freedom of speech was not in any way imperilled by denying to any one of the expriest and sham-nun tribe an opportunity of using the public hall of the city for the purpose of fanning sectarian bigotry and slandering the religious belief of a large section of the community.' In reply to their insolent taunt that he was 'run by the Romanists,' he smilingly retorted : by thanking God that he was not run by the deputation and those whom they represented. * '" ' '.'■.'".' That was nearly ten years ago. And now the latest Information to hand regarding the last place visited by this professional slanderer and strife-raiser indicates that the same treatment is being meted out to him in the United States to-day. The last reported scene of his attempted, mission was at Fall River, Massachusetts. Under the heading '"Ex-Priest" is Refused Permit to Lecture/ an American Catholic contemporary publishes the following official letter addressed by the Mayor of the city to those who had the letting of the hall: —' Fall River, Massachusetts, December 6, 1909.—Mr. Robert N. Hathaway, treasurer of Union Belt Company, Fall River, Mass. My dear Mr. Hathaway, —Complaints have reached this office from many citizens relative to the appearance of the Rev. Dr. Slattery, who styles himself as an ex-priest* and who is to give a lecture on the subject, "Why I Left the Catholic Church and Her Priesthood," and " Why the Pope Condemns American Public Schools." I believe that this is a gross insult to the majority of our fellow-citizens, and tends to incite a feeling of religious prejudice among our people. Besides, there is an apparent prospect that it will disturb the good order of the community and produce a feeling of unrest among all the people of the city. I am unalterably opposed to the introduction of anyone whose prime object is to assail religious beliefs, or result in attacks on any creed or society of men, and while I am Mayor I will do all in my power to prevent the appearance of any man or set of men to come among us to disturb the good order of our community over which I have the honor to preside. Hoping that you will use your good offices to induce the Rev. Dr. Slattery to leave the city, which I believe he can do at this time without molestation or interference which, might happen if .he should be allowed to lecture here, I beg to remain, very sincerely yours, John T. Coughlin, Mayor.' It is just possible that Dr. Cleary is himself in the United States by this time. If he is, and the fact should leak out, Slattery can be depended upon to do the ' Pacific Slope ' in double quick time. , No Gain to Protestantism : One of the most surprising phenomena connected with the persecution of religion in France has been the fact that some English journals and leading Protestants, including even a number of clergymen, have been found to approve and applaud the action and attitude of the French Government. Only last year the President of the New Zealand Methodist Conference, in his presidential address, went out of his way to express, officially, the sympathy of the Conference with,the State attack on 'clericalism' in France. In his innocence the reverend partisan . evidently imagined that any attack sustained or loss inflicted on the Catholic

Church in the Republic would be so much gain to Protestantism. ■-•:.- -. .'. - • : - ■ * '■ ' ' - ■'- The utter fallacy of this notion is admirably shown in an illuminating article in that high-class London journal, the Academy. In its issue . of' December 25, under the heading 'Hypocrisy of the French Republic,' the. Academy had the following remarks, which everyone acquainted with the French character and with .the actual facts regarding the present position in I the republic will recognise as true in every particular*. 'The crusade against the Church,' , says the scholarly London journal, ' which so many English journals have applauded with such intolerable gusto, is neither more. nor less than ruthless onslaught upon the fabric of Christianity. Anti-clericalism connotes antiChristianity, and it is felt to be a wiser policy, figuratively speaking, to rend the clericals limb from limb than to hurl puerile anathema at the Majestic Person of Christ Himself. We must bear in mind that if the Roman Catholic Church is subverted , in France, the country will be deChristianised. Protestantism will never make appreciable headway in France; its system of ethics, its doctrinal elasticity, and its simple ritual are alien to the Latin tem- , perament. Nonconformists who have been so loud in their praises of the persecutions of the French Church should consider dispassionately the underlying motives of the Republic ; in its . outrageous conduct toward the established religion of the French nation. The clergy, as a whole, have been consistently loyal to* the Republic, and, moreover, unduly subservient to the penalising ordinances of a Government hostile from its very inception towards the Church. That there have been certain clericals with avowed preferences in favor of a Royalist Constitution does not justify the savage and vindictive attitude which has characterised the religious policies of successive Republican statesmen from Gambetta downwards to Clemenceau. Imagine the outcry in England if the next Conservative Government sought to penalise Baptists because of Dr. Clifford's antagonism to the House of Lords.' 1 The Catholics of France are only asking to-day for impartial treatment. If the Government orders the teaching in the schools to be absolutely neutral so far as religion is concerned, Catholics are perfectly prepared to abide by such an arrangement, but they object (and we think most rightly) to a system of education professedly and ostensibly neutral, but substantially and practically agnostic and anti-Christian. To feed the souls of innocent children on materialistic pabulum is a crime horrible enough in itself. It becomes trebly infamous when rates and taxes are demanded from Christian parents in support of this inequitable system of so-called laic education. The policy ; of the Republic for the last decade has been one of in- ... cessant persecution of religion.' An Important Decree In our ' Catholic World' columns in this issue some particulars will be found regarding an important decree which has just been published in the Official Bulletin of the Holy See and which is to form part of the new Code of Canon Law. The Decree deals chiefly with the ad limina visits of bishops and their official report to the Holy See of the state of their dioceses. Regarding the former, it prescribes that all Ordinaries of places in Europe are to make their ad limina visits every five years, while for those outside Europe the obligation arises only every ten years, this latter term embodying the provision already in force regarding Australasian bishops. / Further the official visits to Rome are.to.be arranged according to fixed quinquennial sequences (i.e. five yearly periods) which begin with the beginning of the year 1911. In the first year of each quinquennium (period of five years) the report and the visits are to be made by the Bishops of Italy and the adjacent - islands; in the second by the Ordinaries of Spain, Portugal, France, Belgium, Holland, England, Scotland, and Ireland; in the third, by those of Austria-Hungary, Germany, and the rest of Europe with its islands; in the fourth by those of America, and the islands of America, and in the fifth by all the rest of the Ordinaries who are not subject to Propaganda. ••" ' . ' * But even more important than this Decree,' says the Rome correspondent of the London Tablet, 'is the long and detailed instruction which follows it, concerning the report to be presented every five years to the Holy See by the Ordinaries of the whole world. It consists of sixteen chapters, containing no fewer than 150 principal questions, many of which are divided into half-a-dozen others. For the future nothing that affects the condition of the churches and the faithful is to escape the attention of the Holy See. The Bishop begins his report by giving brief data concerning himself and the general condition 6T his diocese then he is* to state the '-. main facts regarding the diocese: origin, rank, extent, nationality, climate, language, population (Catholic and non-Catholic), chief towns, rites, sects, num-

ber of priests, clerics, students secular and religious, canons, etc., number of parishes or missions, their population, rural deaneries, etc., number of churches and chapels, names of famous ; shrines, religious houses of both sexes with number of members, fie is to state whether divine worship is freely exercised, and, if not, what are the obstacles, and what can be done to remove them; whether there are churches, if properly equipped, and how; they are kept; whether inventories of their furniture, etc., are kept, what specially precious or artistic or ancient objects they contain, and what is being done to prevent their loss or deterioration, whether they are open at proper times to the faithful and guarded against sacrilege, etc., whether the.poorest of the poor may frequent them freely and without shame, whether they are ever used for profane purposes, whether the Blessed Sacrament is properly and decently .preserved, the confessionals in a visible place with gratings, the sacred relics, duly authenticated, guarded as they should be, the liturgical laws observed in the sacred functions; do any errors against the faith prevail, which, why; is the Council of Vigilance established and censors, who they are, how they work.' After enumerating a number of other more or less formal and official questions that are to be answer-ed, the Tablet correspondent concludes: 'The subject of the education of the young occupies one page of the instruction . and six questions; there are five questions relating to religious sodalities and associations, six on pious legacies and on money collections, five on charitable and social organisations; and the document closes with four pertinent inquiries concerning the kind of matter that is generally read by the people.' This certainly means arduous work for the Bishops, but when once the information is filed at Rome, the Holy Father will have a more accurate and detailed knowledge of the condition of the most distant diocese than most of the people who are living in it. '■■ - • • »•,■•-•; According to Borne of January 8 last, a further important extension of the power and authority of Bishops is contemplatedan extension which, .in the words of that journal, will strongly reflect the characteristic attitude towards the Hierarchy of Pius X., who would make' of every Bishop a constitutional sovereign in spirituals in his own diocese. For the future Bishops will be granted ordinary powers in matters concerning which they have been obliged hitherto to refer to Rome. For example, they will have the faculty of deciding many marriage cases formerly reserved to the jurisdiction of the Roman Congregations. Incidentally it may be mentioned here that in the definitive text of the Code important changes will be made, and the number of canonical impediments to marriage will be reduced. Another" change to be inaugurated by this decree will affect the faculty of Bishops to make "compositions " for the usurpation of ecclesiastical property'.' According to that very high ecclesiastical authority, Cardinal Moran, the dominant note of these and of other coming 'changes will be that of 'decentralisation.'. 'The purpose of these changes is manifold modernise and simplify canon law; to make its application as universal as possible, both as to territory and as to the three categories of persons, people, priests, and Bishops, for whom it is destined; to relieve the congestion of the central government of the Church; and to grant such ordinary powers to the Bishops as to enable them to administer the law without too frequent recourse to the Holy See.' 'All this, says Rome, in conclusion, 'will be admirably realised with the promulgation of the new code, and will at the same time inaugurate that " decentralisation " to which Cardinal Moran referred.'