Intercolonial

New Zealand Tablet, 9 May 1912, Page 59

Intercolonial

Father Donovan, parish priest of Gundagai, has again found it necessary to return—to- Lewisham Hospital, owing to failing health. , V ’-'V^ A cable message was received from Dublin on April 17 announcing the death of Miss Jennie Dalton, daughter .of Mr. James Dalton, K.C.S.G., of Grange. She was on a visit to Ireland and the Continent. , The net result of the St. Patrick’s Day celebration’ at West Maitland amounted to £490. . The receipts from all sources were.£67o and the expenses £IBO. On the suggestion of the Bishop, a donation of £24 10s has been handed to the hospital!" ' - Tenders have been accepted for additions to SS. Peter and Paul’s Church, South Melbourne, to cost £7889. The additions, which will complete the church according to the original plan, include the erection of three chapels and vestries for priests and altar boys. The work is expected to be completed in about six months. , t The deputies of the H.A.C.B. Society attending the inter-State triennial meeting, to be held at the Federal capital on May 15, will represent over 45,000 members, with funds amounting to about £300,000. ; The Hibernian Society was the first to form a federal union long before Federation of the States was thought of— and it is significant that it will be the first society to meet at the Federal capital. f Ihe census returns giving the religious classification of the Commonwealth sfiow the Mellowing figures of the leading denominations Church of, England, 1,710,443; Catholic, 921,425; Presbyterian, 550,6J6; Methodist,' 547,806; Baptist, 97,074; Congregational, 74,046,; Church of Christ, 38,748; Salvation Army, 26,665. Ihe Catholic population according to the census returns is greatly in excess of that given in the Catholic Directory, y, ■. •; , -n . • In his policy speech at Warrnambool, Mr. Murray (the Victorian Premier) announced-that it was intended to give a number of scholarships to the pupils in private primary schools, proportional' in number with those given to the pupils in .State ‘ primary schools. .The number of scholarships would be increased from 40 to 50 and the number of exhibitions from 20 to 25. The additional, scholarships. spoken of by Mr. Murray will be available at the examination to" be'held in December. When the new chapel at Westmead was blessed a few weeks ago by his Grace the Archbishop (says the Freeman’s Journal), it was announced that his Holiness the Pope, as a further proof of his paternal affection for the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, and the many good works carried on by it, was sending a gift for use in the, sacred ceremonies in the chapel His Holiness’ gift has just been received, and it consists of a beautiful ciborium, of exquisite design - and most intricate workmanship. * The death is reported of the Right Rev. Mgr. O Donovan, V.F., of Mudgee. The Monsignor had been in poor health for some weeks, but his death was not expected. Monsignor O'Donovan was a venerable and distinguished figure in the ecclesiastical life of Australia. He was a native.of County Waterford, Ireland, and made his early studies at Mount Melleray, where he remained two years, afterwards going to All Hallows’ College, Dublin, where he was ordained priest m 1861. He commenced . his Australian mission at St. Benedict’s. After working in the metropolis two years he elected to go to Bathurst, when that district was cut off from Sydney, and made a new diocese. He was appointed parish priest of Orange,' where he remained four years. Mudgee, then a small and unimportant centre, was next the scene, of his labors, and in the long interval that has since elapsed he has seen the town and district grow to be one of the most important in New South Wales. In October last year he .celebrated the golden jubilee of his priesthood.