DIOCESE OF CHRISTCHURCH

New Zealand Tablet, 9 January 1913, Page 25

DIOCESE OF CHRISTCHURCH

(From our own correspondent.) January 6. The Cathedral choir went on New Year’s Day to a picnic at the residence and grounds of Miss M. White, Hoon Hay. The weather being favorable, the outing proved very enjoyable. With the party were the Cathedral clergy and several visiting priests. . Major-General Godley, with his aide-de-camp, Mr. T. Rhodes, dined with his Lordship the Bishop at the episcopal residence on last Sunday week. Mr. A. E. G. Rhodes and Dr. Morkane were also of the party. There was Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament from the 11 o’clock Mass in the Cathedral on Sunday. After the sermon , at Vespers there was the usual procession followed by Solemn Benediction. . The annual general meeting of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, under the circumscription of the Particular Council of Christchurch, was held recently in the Marist Brothers’ schoolroom. His Lordship the Bishop presided. The Very Rev. Father Price, D.C., Adm., was present, and there was a large attendance of members representing the various conferences. The president gave a report of the year’s work, and made special reference to the great loss sustained by the society in the death of Father Venning, and more recently in the death of Bro. D. Murphy, a vicepresident and an energetic member of St. Mary’s Conference, Christchurch North. The balance sheet giving a statement of accounts for the year was presented and adopted. Excellent sectional reports were received from the various conferences, and an amount of correspondence was dealt with. - ' His Lordship the Bishop, in the course of a particularly appropriate address, said he had listened to the president’s report and those of the conferences with a great deal of interest. He impressed upon his hearers the necessity of not losing sight of the chief aim of the society. Corporal works of mercy were useful as a means to an end, but spiritual works should be to

members of far greater importance, in fact their main object. Not the success we achieve, but the efforts we display in its achievement were the most pleasing to Almighty God, Who would reward accordingly. JJis Lordship congratulated St. Mary’s Conference on its growth of membership, and generally expressed his deep satisfaction at the work done' and evident good will displayed. . The Very Rev. Father Price (spiritual director) also addressed the meeting in encouraging terms, after which his Lordship the Bishop imparted the episcopal blessing to all present. In an interesting summary of diocesan progress given by his Lordship the Bishop to a representative of the Lyttelton Times it is shown that the past year has been a particularly active one in the Christchurch diocese, and it is expected that the present year will not be less so. His Lordship said that the event of the year had been the celebration of the jubilee of the diocese, and at the same time the jubilee of his appointment as the first Catholic Bishop of Christchurch. The diocese, he said i was created twenty-five years ago by Pope Leo XIII., and during the past quarter of a century it had extended considerably, the past year having been one of the most fruitful. In Timaru a new church, one of the handsomest in the Dominion, had been opened, and in it a new organ, regarded as one of the best in New Zealand, had been installed. A number of new schools and churches had been opened on the West Coast, and a new presbytery on a large scale had been started at Greymouth. The foundationstone had been laid, and it was expected that the new building "would be opened in a few months. A new parish had been created, embracing Bakaia and Methven, detached 'from Ashburton. The Rev. Dr. Kennedy had been appointed to the parish, and was showing great zeal there. At present Methven was his headquarters. It was probable that a new convent and school would be opened at Methven in February. At present the Sisters of Mercy from Lyttelton went to, Methven every day to conduct their school there, but the new convent would mean that a branch of the Order would be established in Methven. Property had been acquired in Bakaia for school and church purposes. At Mount Magdala a new church had been opened. It was the largest community church in the Dominion. On January 19 the new church at Sumner, which was a beautiful building, would be opened, and. another feature in the coming year would be the new. school that was being built in Colombo street for the Sisters of Mercy. The Sisters of the Missions intended to increase the accommodation at the Convent in Lower High street. In all the institutions the year had been very active. St. Bede’s College was doing a splendid work, and the number of students was increasing. He thought- that if the college were made residential the number of students would be much larger. During the year the Mother Superior of the Timaru Convent had left to go to Japan. The Order to which she belonged had opened a new school at Tokio. The new institution had been a great success, and the Japanese were using it extensively. It was practically under the protection of the Japanese Government, and its success had meant that English-speaking - Sister _had to be sent to it. During the year the debt on the' Cathedral had been reduced from £BOOO to £7OOO, and he hoped that it would not be long before the original debt of £20,000 would be eliminated. During the year a large marble tablet, the largest in the Dominion, had been installed in the Cathedral giving the names of the founders and benefactors of the Cathedral. Those who had donated £IOO were regarded as founders, and those whose contributions exceeded £lO were benefactors. During the past year a new priest from Europe had arrived, and in 1913 another would come to the diocese.