The New Zealand Tablet THURSDAY, MAY 30, 1912. A MEMORABLE JUBILEE

New Zealand Tablet, 30 May 1912, Page 33

The New Zealand Tablet THURSDAY, MAY 30, 1912. A MEMORABLE JUBILEE

fROM the very full and detailed report whichwe give our readers it will be seen that our correspondent does not in - the least . exaggerate when he describes the celebrations in connection with the archiepiscopal jubilee of his Grace Archbishop Redwood fg&W* as ‘a triumphant success.’ From first to * last the proceedings were marked by ovefflowing enthusiasm. The great meeting in. the Town Hall, which was attended by the Prime Minister, three other members of Cabinet, the Mayor of Wellington, the Chief Justice (Sir Robert Stout), the Hon. Mr. Justice Chapman, and by many other prominent and representative citizens, was packed to the doors; and the number who had to be refused admission ran into four figures—a magnificent tribute to the hold which the Archbishop has - not only upon his own people, but upon the people of Wellington generally. And the way in which, when the Archbishop rose to address the gathering, the vast throng broke out, not merely into applause, but into long-continued salvos of cheering, must have removed from his Grace’s mind the last vestige of doubt doubt there ever was—of the loyalty, devotion, and affection of his beloved people. His Grace, while still alert in mind and active in body, is now in his seventyfourth year; and the remarkable demonstrations of last week have made it abundantly manifest that That which should accompany old age, As honor, love, obedience, troops of friends, are his to the utmost measure that heart could wish. * In these democratic days, when name and position count for so little and when the worth of a man is measured solely by his achievement, such tributes as those which have been so spontaneously and enthusiastically lavished upon his Grace are not forthcoming except upon the ground of solid merit and actual desert. Both as man and as ecclesiastic, his Grace has fully earned the affection and veneration which have found such notable expression on this memorable occasion. - His geniality and bonhomie , his personal magnetism, his charming courtesy, his gift of sympathy and companionableness, have made it impossible for his people to do other than love him. There is an old

shepherd's saying that the best way to cure a sheepdog of worrying sheep is to shut him up for one night with a well-seasoned old ewe, and he will never worry a sheep again. It would be a pleasanter discipline if some of our frantic No-Popery men were compelled to spend a few hours in the genial company of his Grace. They would find it very hard to indulge in the baiting of ' Papists ' again. As to his work as an ecclesiastic, his Grace's record is writ large in the annals of the Catholic Church in this country. The Archbishop's history, is, indeed, to an extent (as the N.Z. Tablet has before remarked), the history of the Catholic Church in New Zealand. He saw the Church in this new land rise and expand from the few scattered Catholics of the days of the single pioneer Bishop Pompallier down to the present day, with its 140,000 of the faithful, 260 priests, 62 religious brothers, 855 nuns, 333 churches, 2 ecclesiastical seminaries, 34 colleges and boarding schools, 18 superior day schools, 112 Catholic primary schools, 15 institutes of charity, and 12,650 children receiving the benefit of a religious education. In the work of expansion and progress his Grace has borne a great and honorable part — as Bishop, from 1874, next as Archbishop, from 1887, and from 1897 (when this country became separated, ecclesiastically, from Australia) as the sole direct intermediary "between the Church in New Zealand and the Holy See. In his own especial and personal sphere of work —as was? eloquently set forth by his Lordship the Bishop of Christchurch numbers of clergy and religious, of schools, chapels, convents, charitable institutions, etc., have multiplied enormously; and the archdiocese to-day is, by common consent, as well equipped, for its size and population, as any in Australasia. St. Patrick's College, of which the Catholics of New Zealand are deservedly proud, founded nearly thirty years ago by Dr. Redwood, stands forth, in particular, as a glorious monument of his zeal, ability, and foresight. Of his Grace's scholarly attainments, his ripe and varied learning, his literary grace, his exceptional gifts of speech, it is unnecessary to speak. In spite of his seventy-four years, the old fire and vigor remain undiminished; and a sermon from the Archbishop is to this day looked forward to as a literary, intellectual, and oratorical treat. * Not the least interesting and impressive feature of the splendid demonstration of last week was the number of non-Catholic citizens, of high standing, who joined in doing honor to one of New Zealand's ' grand old men and to one who, for nearly forty years, has been so conspicuous a figure in the public life of the city. During that long period, his Grace's straightforwardness, public-spiritedness, and his many attractive qualities of head and heart, have gained for him, to a remarkable degree, the esteem and regard of broadminded Protestants; and some of the jubilee tributes in the non-Catholic press are scarcely less cordial and enthusiastic than those which have come from his own people. Here, for example, are a few characteristic sentences from a lengthy article in one of the secular papers of Wellington: 'For nearly forty years, then, Archbishop Redwood has been intimately associated with the life and the progress of Wellington. He brought to this See the ardor of a man in the prime of life —a man who had studied to equip himself in various countries, among many people. Archbishop Redwood's cultivated mind is singularly broad, even for a priest of the Catholic Church. He takes a keen and constant interest in all sides of life. A man of strong convictions, ripe culture, and vast experience, he is still modest in conversation, easily approached, a good listener, companionable. He holds men by their sympathies. He knows himself so well because he has always been so earnest to understand others. The man is sturdy and loyal behind the prelate; for a good priest must be essentially human. . . . Standing sternly to his traditions and the doctrines of his Church in all matters of conduct and religious practice, he is singularly tolerant of varying opinions, and he holds himself sensitively aloof from all merely futile controversy. He has visited Europe frequently, and seen much of

the great men and the great movements of his time; and so he has learned the worthlessness of unbridled talk to indefinite ends. He has the strong personality that rises over type. . . . He has in an eminent degree those pastoral qualities which, to a man of the average world, must commend a prelate of the Church.' * In his Grace's reply —couched in characteristically graceful and happy terms— the speakers at the Town Hall demonstration, the dominant note was naturally one of gratitude for the blessings of the past. We hear much in these days of ' the fierce light that beats upon a throne '; but the light which beats upon a public man, and particularlyin a mixed community like ours— a prelate of the Catholic Church, is not one whit less fierce and searching, and one who, after discharging for nearly forty years the arduous and onerous duties of priest and prelate, finds that his work has gained the approbation and admiration not only of his own people but of practically the whole community, has reason to be profoundly and humbly thankful. But with the virile freshness which is still one of his most marked and happy characteristics, his Grace turned also to plans and projects for the future. Of these, the two now nearest to his heart are the new Cathedral and the Catholic Congress to be held in Wellington in 1915. These are, indeed, great and important undertakings; and the successes and achievements of the past are a sure guarantee that the loyalty and devotion which have followed his Grace so unfailingly and unfalteringly throughout his long career will not be wanting now. We heartily join in the chorus of congratulations that have greeted our Archbishop on his unique jubilee, and in the earnest wish that he may long be spared to witness the further and still greater triumphs which, we trust, are in store for the Church in fair New Zealand.