The Catholic World

New Zealand Tablet, 26 January 1911, Page 167

The Catholic World

ENGLAND—In Favor of the Mantilla The Bishop of Salford, who has frequently expressed his objection to the large hats now worn by many ladies, in which he sees a positive danger, has again entered the ranks of the critics of the ' Merry Widow ' (says the Catholic Times of December 9). His Lordship, however, is not a mere destructive critic, but has a practical proposal. and advocates the wearing of mantillas as coverings fo; the head when in church. As a beginning, he suggests to the women that they should wear some form of mantilla th : ; year at the midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, parti cu--1 ijy those who are going to Holy Communion. It will be recollected that at the great Cathedral services in connection with the National Catholic Congress at Leeds many ladies, in response to the committee's request, discarded the fashionable headgear for the mantilla, thereby adding greatly to the comfort of those who wished to miss nothing of the stately ceremonial. An Ancient Custom In the will of Sir Henry Tichborne, he directs that on March 25, the feast of the Annunciation, a dole or gift of bread ox- flour shall be given to such of the poor inhabitants of the parishes of Tichborne and Cheriton as may apply for same. This is an annual custom of the family, resting upon long tradition. .He also expresses a desire to follow the custom adopted upon the death of any member of the family who is buried at Tichborne of distributing to every poor person who may be present at the funeral a small silver coin for each year of the age attained by tli3 deceased, and also to distribute amongst the persons so present fifty-four quartern loaves. He directs that his sun should be sent to Eton to be educated there at the age of thirteen, and should be brought up in the Catholic faith. Sir Henry died worth £144,000, of which the son, Joseph, inherits about £140,000. FRANCE-Objectionable Books The condemnation of certain school books by the Bishops, and their sufferings and that of the priests, on account of their condemnation, are bearing fruit (writes the Paris correspondent of the Glasgow Observer). Several Town Councils have protested against the use of the condemned books in schools. At a meeting of the lay teachers of Paris, one of the fourteen books proscribed by the French Episcopate has been named as unfit to be put into the hands of children. One of the leading teachers, speaking of'this book, said that he would not hesitate to withdraw his children from a school in which it is used. More School Laws M. Briand has been engaged for some time with his colleagues, in finding ways and means of meeting the everrising Budget—the national debt is double that of Great Britain, and three times greater than that of Germanyhut he has found time to intimate that he is going to issue new laws in defence of the 'lay' schools. His plan (writes a Paris correspondent) is to strengthen the compulsory school attendance laws, and to compel parents to send their children to 'lay' schools only, thereby shutting up all the remaining Catholic schools. There is, therefore, more trouble before the Church. France is suffering much for her Catholic schools, but she is prepared to suffer still more for the faith of her children. GERMANY— Pope and Labor Association? An explanation which will set at rest all misleading rumors as to the attitude of the Holy See towards German Labor Associations is given in a Pastoral Letter which has been issued by Cardinal Fischer, Archbishop of Cologne, and which was read from the pulpits of the archdiocese on December 8, the feast of the Immaculate Conception (savs the Catholic Times). About the time when the Cardinal was about to make his visit to Rome all sorts of reports were circulated. It was said that some of the labor organisations would be condemned by the Holy Father, that divisions were likely to arise between the 'German Catholics, and that there were serious differences between the German Bishops. The Cardinal in his Pastoral assures the German Catholics that they need not be troubled in the least about these reports. The Pone, whose sentiments on the subject he possesses in the writing of his Holiness, so far from condemning any of the labor organisations, praises and blesses them. 'We can, shall, and will, 5 says his Emience, 'continue to keep them up and develop them. If there is anything imperfect in connection with them, we shall put it aside and endeavor to make them more perfect in the interest of the sacred cause we serve and for the welfare of our people.' The Holy Father maintains exactly the same view that he has hitherto taken with regard to the Labor organisations; that is to say, his attitude is one of neutrality as between the two directions in which these societies proceed in Germany, but it is his wish that for the future the Catholics should strive more and more to have their own special organisations besides the others, and that both should work in complete harmony.

One of the results of the Cardinal's visit to ' Rome " will : doubtless be increased activity amongst the Catholic workingmen's societies. , -''.'■ PORTUGAL— Sufferings of the Jesuits The reports in the anti-clerical press of Portugal to the effect that the Jesuit Fathers were subjected to the humilition of anthropometrical measurement before being expelled from the country are confirmed by the statement of the Portuguese Provincial, Father Louis Gonzaga Cabral, published in the Civilta Cattolica. ;. That was not the worst indignity they had to bear. Their prison experiences were inexpressibly trying. They had to endure every kind of hardship. Armed ruffians threatened to shoot them dead again and again. They had to lie at night on bare boards and tables with little covering. Over a score were forced into an apartment where there was scarcely sufficient space for three. Venerable old men whose days had been spent in study and in efforts to benefit the people were compelled by their rough and violent gaolers to hold out their fingers in order that impressions might be taken of them as if they were criminals. And when, at last, the Fathers, after having been robbed of everything they possessed and having heard lying and absurd charges made against them, were ordered to quit the country, their friends had to provide the money to pay their fare. Father Cabral does not use an inappropriate word when he calls their trials a martyrdom. Evil Deeds A professor of the Lazarist College of Arroios at Lisbon, the Rev. M. Souza, a Portuguese priest, who was an eye-witness of the bloody drama enacted when the revolutionists visited the institution, has given details of what occurred there on the evening of the murder of Father Fragues, the Superior, and Father Barros-Gomes. He said The revolutionists burst into the college after having broken the doors and windows. They met first in the corridor the Rev. Pere Barros-Gomes, a Portuguese priest, aged seventy-two; they rushed upon him, and 'one of his aggressors stabbed him in the abdomen with a poignard. A lay Brother who was concealed in a neighboring room , saw them strike the Father with the butt-end of their muskets on the head and chest until death ensued. They next tore off his soutane and trampled upon it. Whilst this tragic scene was < being enacted the pupils fled, terrorstricken, towards the'entrance of the garden, the noise and tumult growing more and more deafening. Perceiving the imminence of the danger, and thinking perhaps to conjure it, Pere Fragues said in a loud voice: "I shall go and meet them." And then with outstretched arms, holding a crucifix in his right hand, he walked up <to the assailants, crying out in Portuguese: ."For the love of God, do not kill anybody!" A musket shot-from one of the body of rioters laid him prostrate on the floor before the door of his room. They then threw themselves upon him, stripped him of his clothes, and, kicking and otherwise maltreating him, cried out: "This is just the man we wanted." To such an extent did they vent their rage on his corpse that he could hardly be recognised." Professor Souza was himself badly wounded by a blow of the butt-end of a musket, but his life was saved through the intervention of one of the Republican leaders. SCOTLAND—Death of a Convert The death occurred recently at Bournemouth of the Hon. Mary Stuart, eldest daughter of the late Lord Blantyre, of Erskine House, Bishopton, Renfrewshire. The London residence of Lord Blantyre was in Berkely Square, half a minute's walk from the church at Farm street, and there Miss Stuart came under the kindly influence of the Jesuit Fathers (says the Glasgow Observer). She was received into the Church in 1886 by the Rev. Father Gallwey, S.J., and from that time till the hour of her death' she was a most devout Catholic, untiring in aiding everything connected with the Church. The Catholic Truth Society, the Crusade of Rescue, the Home for Destitute Catholic Children in danger of losing their faith, convents, charitable societies of every kind, had in her a liberal benefactress; in fact, the measure of her charities will never be known. ... UNITED STATES—Catholic Charity It's an ill-wind (says America) that blows nobody some good. When Mayor Gaynor was shot he was taken to St. Mary's Hospital, Hoboken, which is in charge of the Sisters of the Poor of St. Franpis. Much of the rapidity of his convalescence was due to the care with which the. Sisters looked after his case. When he left the hospital he asked for his bill, and was told there was no charge. A number of prominent New York citizens, without distinction of creed, have now united to present the Sisters with a Thanksgiving offering in recognition of their services to the Mayor during his critical illness. Praise for the Sisters - In sending his cheque for one hundred dollars to the chairman of the fund that is being raised for St. Mary's Hospital, Hoboken, Mayor Gaynor, of New York, wrote: 'I enclose my cheque for one hundred dollars for the St. Mary's Hospital Thanksgiving Day Fund. It seems to me that before closing the'fund you should remove the limit of one hundred dollars, so that those who can afford

it may give larger sums. The noble women who run the hospital are much in need of funds to carry on this work. My one wish the morning I left their hospital was that I were able to pay off their entire debt. Up to the time that I was taken to the hospital I had only a vague notion, like that common to all who have had no hospital experience, that there were such noble women in the world who devote all their time gratis to the nursing of the sick and wounded in hospitals. What would the world do without them ? There is- a notion abroad to some extent that this fund is to pay my medical and surgical bills. It ought to be removed, as I fear it prevents subscriptions.' President at Thanksgiving Mass Foremost in importance in the national capital's observance of Thanksgiving Day was the second annual PanAmerican service at St. Patrick's Church, Washington, D.C. President Taft, nearly all the' members of his Cabinet, supreme court justices, and diplomatic representatives from every Government in North and South America attended. Solemn Mass was celebrated by Cardinal Gibbons. Archbishop Diomede Falconio, the Apostolic Delegate, was present. President Taft and Mrs. Taft were received by Father Russell, rector of the church. Their pew was adorned with the American flag, and little flags of all the other republics floated from various pews. A luncheon followed at the rectory, where Cardinal Gibbons warm I v advocated a Pan-American tribunal of arbitration. The President and Cabinet attended a similar servce in the same church - a year before. The Catholic University Cardinal Gibbons, as Chancellor of the Catholic University of America, has issued a letter concerning the work of that admirable institution. His Eminence says the excellent condition of the University is shown in the Rector's annual report. The endowment is now larger than ever before.