DIOCESE OF DUNEDIN

New Zealand Tablet, 8 February 1912, Page 31

DIOCESE OF DUNEDIN

* . A mission in the Gore parochial district was opened on Sunday by the Rev. Fathers Hunt and Lynch, C.SS.R. The parish schools re-opened after the midsummer vacation on Monday, and St. Dominic’s College on Tuesday. Mount St. Gerard’s Convent School, Alexandra, conducted by the Sisters of Mercy, was opened on Monday last. " The Rev. M. Keenan, of Newcastle, diocese of Maitland, who had been on a visit to his uncle, Re\. Father Keenan, of Riversdale, passed through Dunedin yesterday on his way north. His Grace Archbishop Kelly, of Sydney, and his Lordship Bishop Dwyer, of Maitland, left Sydney on Saturday for Wellington. They intend to spend about a fortnight in New Zealand, principally in the South Island, and will leave for Sydney on Feb. 22. The mission in Milton, given by the Redemptorist Fathers, was brought to a close on Sunday. A mission was'opened in Lawrence on Sunday by Rev. Fathers Creagh and J. Murray, C.SS.R.. The following are the dates for the opening of missions in other portions of the Tuapeka district;—Waitahuna and Waipori, Sunday, February 11; Kononi, Wednesday, February 14Roxburgh, Sunday, February 18; Millers Flat, Thursday, Feb. 22. A mission will be opened by the Rev. Father Murray, C.SS.R., in Riversdale on Feb. 18. On Sunday there was Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament at St. Joseph’s Cathedral from the last Mass until Vespers. In the evening there was the usual procession followed by Benediction. Rev. Father Colman, S.J., preached an impressive sermon in the evening, when there was a very large congregation. The high altar was profusely and tastefully decorated with choice flowers, the work of Misses Murphy and White of the Altar Society. His Lordship the Bishop in announcing, at the 9 o’clock Mass at St. Joseph’s Cathedral on Sunday, the re-opening of the parish schools, after the midsummer vacation, expressed the hope that every child in the parish would attend school on the opening day, and that parents would co-operate with the teachers by sending the children regularly' and punctually to school during the year. They had excellent schools in Dunedin—schools which would be a credit to any place,,

and they had devoted teachers (Brothers and Sisters), who gave their lives to the instruction of the children, 7 but unless the parents did their duty the schools would not be as successful as they otherwise would. If the children attended regularly during the year and worked earnestly God would bless their work, and the schools would prosper. The annual picnic of the pupils of the Catholic schools of the city and suburbs took place on Wednesday at the Wingatui Racecourse, the use of which was kindly given by the Dunedin Jockey Club. The children were conveyed to their destination by a special train consisting of nearly, twenty carriages, which left Dunedin shortly before 10 o’clock. The children of the South Dunedin schools joined the train at Caversham. Among those present at the outing were Rev. Fathers Coffey, . Adm., Delany, ' and Corcoran, Rev. Brothers O’Donoghue, Moore, Cusack,’ and Redmond, Mesdames Jackson, Stone, Salmon, Swanson, and Miss Curran (members of the ladies’ committee), Messrs. J. J. Salmon (secretary), F. Cantwell, and T. P. Laffey. As the weather conditions in the morning were all that could be desired a large number of adults took .advantage of the'outing. The Catholics of the Kaikorai Valley are showing most commendable zeal in their efforts to have a church in their midst. About nine months ago they purchased a section in a very suitable situation as a site for a church at a .cost of about £360. Already * they have paid off over £250 of this amount, and now they have determined to make an effort by a weekly collection to liquidate the balance within a very short timethis was the decision arrived at by a wellattended meeting in St. Joseph’s Hall on Wednesday evening of last week l over which the Rev. Father Coffey, Adm., ’presided. It was also decided to proceed immediately with the erection of a school-church, and a working bee has been formed for the purpose of excavating for the foundations of the building. A generous donor has kindly , placed at the disposal of the 1 committee a sum of £IOO, free of interest, and to be paid back at their convenience, for the purpose of liquidating the balance of debt on the site. The Catholics of the district have always been to the fore when work was to be done in the city, and now the people of the city will be only doing their duty by assisting those of the Kaikorai to erect a church.