The Catholic World

New Zealand Tablet, 30 June 1910, Page 1031

The Catholic World

ENGLAND—Death of a Religious T " : Lady Turner (in religion Sister Mary Ancina), who died recently at the Convent of the Visitation, Harrow, was the daughter of Mr. W. M. Hodgkinson, of Wookey Hole, Somerset, and widow of Sir Charles Arthur Turner, K.C.1.E., Chief Justice of the High Court of Judicature, Madras, who died in 1907. She was 65 years of age.

The Late King and Catholics His Grace Archbishop Bourne, in the course of his remarks at Westminster Cathedral on the feelings Catholics entertained towards the deceased King, said they recalled with a sense of gratitude the courteous consideration which prompted his visit to the late Holy Father (says the Catholic Times). A member of the Order of Preachers, the Rev. Father Crofts, was about the same time telling the congregation in St. Malachy's Church, Belfast, of other proofs of the King's good-will for which Catholics have reason to be grateful. . By his personal influence King Edward, Father Crofts affirmed, preserved for Irish students the Irish National College and the Irish Dominican Colleges in Rome, and Catholics were indebted to him for the same benefaction in Lisbon. Indeed, there never was an occasion on which he could render a service to Catholics when he neglected the opportunity. He was at all times well disposed towards them, and men of whose devotion to the ancient faith he was well aware were amongst,, his oldest and warmest friends. His freedom from religious prejudices was keenly appreciated by the Holy Father, and when informed of the King's death his Holiness spoke in touching terms of the grief which the sad news must bring to Catholics in-every part of the Empire. .X;-; ■'--:.-••■"';'--;■ v.-!.;

A Priest's Heroism In their clergy's devotion to. duty, Catholics are constantly afforded ground for legitimate pride (remarks the Catholic Times). When ' there is question of _ bringing spiritual succor to the dying, the Catholic priest is daunted by no peril. A striking instance of the fearless courage he displays in the face of danger is supplied by the conduct of Father White, of Hunslet, on May 7. On the morning of that day the pit side at Woodlesford, near Normanton, collapsed, hurling five men to the bottom and burying them beneath masses of earth and masonry. A sixth man, a stalwart Irish Catholic, named Patrick McCarthy, was not completely covered, but his feet being crushed, he suffered agonising pain. He piteously implored help, and some stimulants were given to him, but it was impossible to release him. He was embedded to the waist in masonry, and was enveloped to the chin in water, which, in a state of delirium, he was trying to blow away. Father Wright pleaded to be allowed to go down the shaft in order to administer the rites of the Church to the dying man. The descent was most dangerous, and at first permission was refused. But the rev. gentleman'urgently renewed his entreaties, and was then permitted to descend. Whilst he was going down, accompanied by Mr. Pickering,.his Majesty Inspector of Mines, stones fell in showers beside them, and they carried their lives in their hands. McCarthy died of sheer exhaustion just as the priest came near. '■. In performing his noble mission of charity Father Wright gave proof of the spirit of a hero.

FRANCE—In Honor of Joan of Arc

The Orleans correspondent of the Paris Eclair, who has been present several years at the local fetes in honor of Joan of Arc, expresses the belief that the authorities are doing all that is within their power to suppress them. ; They forbid soldiers to take any; part in them, and strive by other measures to lessen their eclat. _ Why is it that Frenchmen, who are supposed to be chivalrous (says the Catholic Times), thus seek to dim the glory of so renowned a French heroine? In other nations it is felt that her name cannot be too highly honored. The foreigner, whether Monarchist or Republican, European or American, reads of her exploits with enthusiasm and holds that it is a, duty of humanity to reverence her memory. But the French Government official would fain belittle her. He knows that the men at the head of affairs dislike the eulogies paid to Joan of Arc annually because the speakers proclaim that the Maid accomplished the marvellous deeds by which her career was distinguished through the power of faith in God, and that her patriotic zeal was intertwined with her love of religion. Theirs are not the same ideals. Hers was a gospel of purity and light; theirs is a gospel that panders to foul passions. Hence their hostility to the Orleans celebrations. "

NORWAY—A Visit to a Convent

Greatly to the surprise of the Sisters of , St. Joseph, they received at their Hospital of Our, Lady, Christiania, on April 21, a visit from their Majesties King Haakon and Queen Maud. Attended by the Mother Superior and,her assistant, the King and Queen went over the hospital from the cellar to the loft, and expressed their admiration of all the arrangements and up-to-date equipments they saw. They entered every sick room and shook hands with and spoke to each patient. The visit lasted about two hours, and the Sisters as well as the patients were much pleased with this gracious mark of royal sympathy. -

ROME—The Holy Father's Regret

It was with deep regret, to which £he gavo repeated expression, that the Holy Father heard the sad tidings of the demise of the King of England. Immediately on learning of the sad event, news of which reached him soon after the celebration of Mass on Saturday morning, -May 7, his Holiness telegraphed messages of condolence to the heir to the throne, Queen Alexandra, and the Royal Family. The announcement of the King's death made a deep impression in Rome. On all the public buildings and the Catholic institutions connected with England and Scotland there were flags at half-mast. . '_ A Venerable Prelate ;: '.'" ' '•;' - • •

Amid a number of English, Irish, and Scotch friends the Right Rev. Mgr. Giles, Titular Bishop of Philadelphia, Rector of the English and-Beda Colleges, celebrated his 80th birthday on April 30. .The venerable prelate, J who is as hale and hearty as he has been any time foi the last thirty years, received the congratulations of his ecclesiastical and lay friends with evident pleasure. During his years in Rome—and the number is not many short of a half^-century—Bishop Giles has been noted as a man of powerful frame whose enthusiasm as a 1 pedestrian has known no limits. In years gone by a stroll of forty or forty-five miles a day over the hills and through the valleys of Italy gave him very little trouble On days when the students : of the English College went on excursions. •-■ -■'•.---■.>-.

UNITED STATES—An Unprecedented Event

An unprecedented event in the history of the Church in the United States took place'on May 19, when six newlycreated Bishops of the prevince of St. Paul - were consecrated by the Metropolitan, Most Rev. John Ireland, Archbishop of St. Paul, in the Cathedral, St. Paul. The new members of the hierarchy are: Right Rev. Timothy Corbett (formerly pastor of - the Cathedral >of the Sacred Heart, Duluth), Bishop of Crookston; Right Rev. Vincent Wehrle, 0.5.8. (formerly Abbot of St. Mary's Abbey, Richardton, N.D.), Bishop of Bismarck, N.D.; Right Rev. Joseph F. Busch (formerly head of the diocesan missionary band, residing at Excelsior, Minn.), Bishop of Lead, S.D.; Right Rev. John J. Lawler (formerly pastor of St. Paul's Cathedral, St. Paul), Auxiliary of St. Paul; Right Rev. James O'Reilly (formerly pastor of the Church of St. Anthony of Padua, Minneapolis), Bishop of Fargo, N.D., and Right Rev. Patrick Heffron (formerly Rector of; St. Paul Seminary), Bishop of Winona, Minn., " On the same day in the Cathedral of SS. Peter and Paul, Philadelphia, Right Rev. John B. MacGinley, D.D., assistant pastor of the Church of St. Charles Borromeo, Philadelphia, was consecrated by Archbishop Ryan as Bishop of Nueva Caceres, P.I.

Heroic Nuns ; ? While the Convent of St. Augustine, in Lakewood, Ohio, was blazing early one morning -.-. recently, the fifty nuns, who had been driven from their cells, carried the sick from the convent hospital into the street. The convent was wholly consumed. The nuns who were driven from their retreat are members of the Order of Sisters of Charity. A Distinguished Astronomer

Rev. Father George M. Searle, the Paulist astronomer, will hereafter direct the scientific work at the new Newman Hall, established by the Archbishop of San Francisco, at the University of California.

A Contrast ' .. - Ninety-eight years ago there was no Catholic church in Ohio. Now there is one archdiocese and two dioceses, with a Catholic population of about 619,000 and about 613 churches.

Greatest Catholic City in the World 'Recently,' said Archbishop Farley, ' I visited Paris, Vienna, and other great cities, but nowhere did I find evidence which; changed my belief that New York is the greatest Catholic \ city in the world.' ' .

A Venerable Bishop > Right Rev. John J. Hogan, Bishop of Kansas City, Mo., the oldest prelate in point of years and service in the United States, attained his 81st birthday on May JO. Just one month before he observed the forty-eighth anniversary of his ordination. Bishop Hogan was born near Bruff, County Limerick. He was appointed Bishop of St. Joseph, Mo., on September 13, 1868, and was transferred to the see of Kansas City on September * 10, 1880.