The Catholic World

New Zealand Tablet, 8 September 1910, Page 1459

The Catholic World

ENGLAND—A Priest's Heroism Rev. Father White, of Hunslet, who at the recent pit disaster at Chilton risked his life to administer the last Sacraments to a pit sinker pinned in the dismantled shaft, was presented recently by his admirers with a cheque for £SO and an illuminated address. Mr. William Middlebrook, M.P., a Wesleyan local preacher, made the presentation and many Nonconformists and Anglicans, as well as Catholics, attended the function. The money was mainly subscribed by the working men of Hunslet; and several of the survivors of the accident were present and spoke in high terms of praise of the priest's gallantry. The action, declared Mr. Middlebrook, which Father White had performed, was the height of pluck, because it was done after he had had time to dwell upon its danger. In acknowledging the gift, Father White modestly declared that a great deal too much fuss had been made of his action, which at the time and since he looked upon simply as an ordinary act of a clergyman's duty. A Munificent Gift The Duke of Norfolk has presented a large house a\:d grounds at Kirkhedge in Yorkshire to the Order rt the Peer Clares. FRANCE—Samples of French Justice The following (remarks the Catholic Weekly) are a few specimens. of the brutal treatment meted out \rj the French Government to women who profess Catholicism, and devote themselves to spiritual or corporal works of mercy for the benefit of their countrymen. Four nans of the authorised congregation of St. Anne, belonging to Saumur, were summoned by a doctor, of Douai, to mine some patients in his hospital. They were hereupon prosecuted by the Public Prosecutor for the new crime of 'reconstituting a religious congregation.' The question_ to be decided by the magistrate at Douai was whether going to nurse sick persons in a doctor's house amounted to founding an establishment. The Douai court —and common sensereplied in the negative. But a higher court reversed this righteous decision of the lower, and inflicted a fine of sixteen francs on each- of the nuns! Tbe latter then appealed to the Court of Cassation. The appeal was rejected ! Quite possibly, a court of appeal in some other part of France would have decided in the nuns' favor. For, as we have before pointed out in these columns, in matters affecting Catholic interests, the courts of France are not ruled by justice but by the degree > of anti-clerical, _ or masonic, animus and influence prevailing in the district. Another story of brutality to devoted women comes to us from La Chapelle-sur-Bloermel. Two nuns of the Holy Ghost, who had been teaching children and nursing the sick poor for more than forty years, were victims of this act of brigandage. Their house was broken into forcibly by gendarmes, led by a civil official. These wretches broke the windows and forced open the doors. One of the Sisters, afflicted with heart complaint, fell fainting into the arms of the official burglars. Words are inadequate to characterise such inhuman acts as they deserve. And this is M. Briand's method of ' appeasement' ! Our discreet ' dailies do not consider such trifles worth recording. But if such things were done, say, to Evangelicals in Catholic Spain, what thick and thrilling headlines would adorn our press columns! Increase of Crime For some years past crime has been alarmingly on the increase in France (says the Catholic Times). M. Briand has evidently begun to recognise that firmness _ should be displayed in suppressing it, for by his opposition to. the granting of an amnesty he has been earning the denunciations of his old Socialist companions. The question is whether sternness on the part of the authorities will be a sufficient remedy. The rising generation have little regard for law or order, and have recourse to deadly weapons in their encounters with the police. When the Apache Liabeuf was executed something like an insurrection was threatened. The streets in the vicinity of the place of execution were full of angry, menacing crowds. Many of the men were armed with revolvers and knives, and in an attack on the police one officer was stabbed in the throat. Since then the Apaches have renewed the onslaught on the police. A young man set upon a policeman in Rue Aubry le Boucher and tried to stab him, in order, as he said, to avenge Liabeuf. When the policeman had disarmed his assailant he was attacked by two youths with hammers. Other Apaches soon appeared on the scene, and between them and six gendarmes who came to the policeman's rescue there was a fierce struggle in which knives were used and some of the officers of the law were injured. What with outbreaks of violence, poisonings, and the misappropriation of funds by officials, France is rapidly sinking in the moral scale. ROME—Holland and the Holy See The nature of an assurance given to the Queen cf Holland on behalf of the Holy See relative to the Ency-

clical Editce Saepe has been incorrectly represented in a telegram circulated by a news agency (writes a Rome correspondent). The Agenzia Stefani recently communicated the following to the press: ' The Charge d'Affaires of the Holy See, Monsignor Giovannini, on Julv 6 directed a letter in the name of the Pope to the Foreign Minister asking him to declare to Queen Wilhelmina that the Pope learned with great regret of the erroneous interpretation given in the Low Countries to his Encyclical Editce Saepe. Monsignor Giovannini declares in his letter the Pope desires to assure the Queen that he had no intention whatever of offending the Princes of the House of Orange or the non-Catholic subjects of her Majesty.' After the appearance of the telegram it was thought well at the Vatican to investigate the matter. The consequence was a denial that any such letter had ever been written. The following (taken from the Official. Journal) was sent as a reply by the Agensia Stefani : 'By order of the Cardinal Secretary of State, in the name of the Pope, the Charge d'Affaires of the Holy See on July 6 informed the Foreign Ministerrequesting him to make it known to the Queen that his Holiness learned with regret of the inexact interpretation given in Holland to the Encyclical Editaz Saepe, that his Holiness regretted to find that in consequence of this interpretation some words of the Encyclical had made a painful impression on her Majesty, and that his Holiness wished to state there was no reference in his words to the Princess of Orange-Nassau or the non-Catholic subjects cf her Majesty.' This differs from the communication given by the Agenzia Stefani, inasmuch as no reference is made to a letter. Next day the Osservatore Romano published the authentic verbal message delivered to the Minister. It runs thus: ' The Holy Father expresses surprise and regret that although lie mentioned no prince, people, nor the nonCatholic subjects of any country in particular of the time of St. Charles, and especially after the general declaration made in the Osservatore Romano, the intention of offending the Queen, the Princes of Orange, or the non-Catholic subjects of Holland, could be attributed to him.' This, then, was the real message which Cardinal Merry del Vat ordered _to be conveyed 'verbally to the Foreign Minister, and which had been distorted. Departure of Students One of the sights of the Eternal City calculated to indicate the power and universality of the Church (writes a Rome correspondent under date July 14), is that of the students of the foreign national colleges as they hurry daily to and from the universities, where they attend lectures. White, black, and brown, they total some thousands, represent every civilised nation and a few uncivilised ones, from Norway to South Africa, and are all filled with the hope of returning in a few years to their native cities, mountains, or prairies as priests of the Catholic Church. This week Rome has lost the interesting concourse of young men, the students having left until October for their mountain villas or the sea-shore. The North Americans, Scotch, Propagandists, and English have left for their houses among the Alban Hills; the Irish College and Irish Dominicans are in Tivoli; and here and there through Italy the French, Spanish, Portuguese, Belgian, Bohemian, Maronite, Armenian, German, South American, Canadian, Leonine, Capranican, and various other colleges are scattered to avoid the heat of the cities and pass the vacation. SCOTLAND—Death of a Convert The death occurred at Cramond House, Midlothian, on July 12, of Mrs. Craigie Halkett, wife of Lieut.-Colonel Craigie Halkett, of Cramond and Harthill. Mrs. Craigie Halkett was the daughter of the late Duncan Davidson, of Tulloch, and Hon. Elizabeth Macdonald, daughter or Godfrey Lord Macdonald, and became a convert to the Catholic faith more than thirty years ago, of which she has ever since been a faithful adherent, and a diligent observer of all pious practicesher sure support in the trials of life and her sweet consolation in the hour of death. Charitable Bequests Catherine Jane Brownlee, of Merrylee House, Newlands, Glasgow, whose will has just been proved at £22,040, left £IBOO to charities, including £3OO each to the Franciscan Convent, Charlotte street, Glasgow, and the Conference of St. Vincent de Paul Society, St. Joseph's, Glasgow, and should her estate be sufficient, a further £4300 to other charities. SPAIN—The Religious Orders From the meetings, speeches, _ newspaper articles, and reports of the Spanish anti-clericals (says the Catholic Times) one would be led to infer that Spain had within its confines a comparatively larger number of religious than any other land, and that by devoting themselves to business, they entered seriously into competition with business men. What are the facts? According to statistics published in 1904 there were then in the country only 10,630 monks, who resided in 597 establishments. The nuns were more numerous, there being 2656 convents, with 40,030 inmates. But for a Catholic country such as Spain the number in each case' was moderate. All the nuns devoted themselves to teaching and charitable work. Of the 597 convents of monks only eighteen engaged in labors which would come under the titles of industry and commerce. In all the.

houses the chief object aimed at was the spiritual and mental improvement of the people. " The truth is, all the reports about the excessive number of monks and nuns in Spain are pure fiction. Double the number might employ themselves there very usefully. The campaign against the religious was commenced by men who are anxious to imitate the French and take credit to themselves for compelling the Prime Minister, Sen Canalejas, to walk in the footsteps of M. Clemenceau and M. Briand. UNITED STATES— Editor-in-Chief By direction of the Father-General of the Order in Rome, _ Rev. Thomas J. Campbell has assumed charge as supervisor of the House of the Jesuits, at 32 Washington Square West, New York City, and as editor-in-chief of America. Colored Priests A negro student of the Seminary, St. Paul, Minnesota, has recently been ordained a priest. He is the sixth negro priest who has been ordained for the United States since 1888.