Intercolonial

New Zealand Tablet, 20 October 1910, Page 1727

Intercolonial

* o?Sf Ro ? n S 0 ? or l in con nection with the completion or St. Mary s Cathedral, Sydney, now amounts to £23,643. The contractor has just started excavating for the foundation of the new Cathedral in Armidale, the contract price for which is close on £22,000. \ +i. ? is ? Ce Archbishop Dunne, of Brisbane, will bless the foundation stone of the new convent ana* school at Goondiwindi (Q.) on October 22. The cost of the new building will be about £4OOO. Rev. Father Hughes, pastor of Cobar, who some time ago suffered from a severe illness as a result of trying and continuous work, has been granted a health vacation, and will leave on a trip to Europe on the 26th inst. A most successful function took place in the Oddfellows' Ha Gunning recently, the object of which was to welcome and introduce the Rev. Father John Sharkey, the recentlyappointed successor of the Rev. Father T. O'Shaughnessv who has been transferred to Cootamundra, after being 15 years in charge of Gunning. ' B . His Eminence Cardinal Moran made an appeal for subB*"? St - MaS Cathedral Fund on Sunday October 2 at Mosman when the sum of £llß3 was subscribed. On the same date his Grace Archbishop Kelly made a similar appeal at Surry Hills, with the result that subscriptions amounting to £BIO were handed in. """scrip The death is announced of Mrs. Teresa Boesen who passed away rather suddenly at her residence, Potts Point on October 4. She had been actively associated with St! Marys b air, and was preparing to make a visit to the Cardinal's Hall just before the fatal seizure overtook her S e MrT'hl 1° WaS Slxt y-£ VO J 7ears °* age, was the widow of Mr. Theodore August Boesen, and daughter of the late Mr. James Curtis. The deceased was a recognised authority on musical matters. J The Right Rev. Dr. Dunne, Bishop of Bathurst, visited Molong on Sunday, October 2, and performed the ceremony or blessing and opening the new convent erected there for the Sisters of St. Joseph There was a large attendance at the ceremony, and a substantial sum was subscribed towards the liquidation of the debt. The building and furnishing cost about £llOO, of which over £BSO has been raised, and the balance of debt on the whole property in Molong including church, school, presbytery, and convent, was only £2oo. ' In the parent house of the Order of Mercy, at Victoria bquare 1 erth and also in the flourishing foundations of the Order at St. Brigid's, West Perth, and St. Patrick's IJunbury, several Sisters celebrated their silver jubilee on September 24 the Feast of Our Lady of Mercy (says the It"xi " {[ ecord )- At . the Mother House, Victoria Square, Mother Mary Benedict and Sister Mary Paul were the jubilarians; at St. Brigid's, Mother Mary Berchmans and Sister Mary Antony and at St. Patrick's, Bunbury, Mother Mary Xavier. On September 24, 1885, all five made their final vows in-the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Perth Ihere were also four others, who had a like privilege on the same day; but these four are long since dead. Towards the end of August last (says the Brisbane Age) the Commonwealth Public Service Commissioners held an open competition examination in Queensland to fill up vacancies in the clerical division of the serivce. The results of the examination have just come to hand, and once more an overwhelming proof is afforded of the efficiency of our Catholic secondary schools. Of the first six places, one of our schools— Christian Brothers' College, Gregory terrace—carried off the first, second, third, fourth, and sixth places, and in the second half dozen the 'Terrace' and the Christian Brothers' College, Toowoomba, are each represented. These results need no booming on our part They speak eloquently for the unremitting toil of our Catholic volunteer educationists. But it would seem they appeal in vain to a prejudiced public. It is hardly credible that such schools receive no particle of aid from the State whilst their rivals in the educational arena are liberally' not to say lavishly, backed up by the money-bags of the Public Treasury. The Evangelical Lutheran Synod in Australia (Eastern district) has, through Messrs. J. F. Noack (Natimuk) and H. D. Mensing (Murtoa), forwarded a circular to the members of the State Parliament, appealing to them to resist Mr. Swinburne's proposal for a referendum on the subject of Scripture lessons in State schools (says the Melbourne Tribune). The synod claims that an attempt is being made, under cover of a referendum, to violate the. principles upon which religious liberty and equity are based. It protests that the State has no right to' claim any authority in matters of conscience and religion, and explains its view that a referendum would give an eventual majority the right to place religious teaching in the hands of the State. It is impossible, the synod further urges, to give religious instruction of an undenominational character. The introduction of Bible lessons in any shape into State schools would it says, be the first step towards establishing a State ligion, and the outcome would be religious intolerance and , endless religious strife. # The synod also points out that the constitution of, Victoria and the Commonwealth guarantees perfect liberty in religious affairs.