Intercolonial

New Zealand Tablet, 9 January 1913, Page 51

Intercolonial

His Lordship the Bishop of Perth, the Right Rev. Dr. Clune, leaves' for Rome by the R.M.S. Maloja on the 3rd February. A movement is on foot to extend to New South Wales the Australian Catholic Federation, which already covers Victoria. Mr. Martin Kennedy, K.C.S.G., of . Wellington, New Zealand, accompanied by his wife and. two daughters, left Sydney by the R.M.S. Orama on Saturday, December 21, tn route for the Old Country (says the Freeman’s Journal). To avoid the end of the British winter the party will tour for some time on the Continent. he Right Rev. Monsignor O’Haran, who was recently appointed P.P. of the Sacred Heart, Darlinghurst, and who was Administrator of St.-Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney, for more than a quarter of a, century, was recently entertained at a social gathering in the Chapter Hall, St. Mary’s, by the parishioners and many of his friends from outside the parish. Opportunity was taken of the occasion by the parishioners and the members of the various societies to present him with illuminated addresses appreciative of his great work in connection with the Cathedral and the institutions of the district. Addressing over 200 candidates for Confirmation at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, the Archbishop of, Melbourne expressed himself in emphatic terms ,in regard to the Girl Scout movement. He hoped that no Catholic parents would so far forget their duty to their daughters as to allow them to take part in this movement. It required that the girls should be far distant from their homes without any parental control; There were dangers, humanly speaking, that it would be impossible to provide against. It had been claimed that the girls benefited by - learning cooking, by physical drill, and so forth. All this was useful, but it could bo taught equally well without removing the girls from the control of their parents. V y y-: As the briefs have not yet arrived from Rome (says the Advocate) the date of the consecration of the Right Rev. Mgr. Phelan as Bishop of Sale cannot .-be fixed. The earliest however, that the ceremony could possibly take place is Sunday, February 2, before Ash Wednesday, and, if arrangements cannot be made for. that Sunday, mid-Lent will be selected, that is Laetare Sunday, which falls this year on March 2. -The convenience of the Bishops who will take part in the ceremony will determine the date. Two things have been definitely fixed—that is, the consecrating prelate will be his Grace the Archbishop of Melbourne, with whom the Bishop-Elect has been intimately associated for years, and the ceremony will take place in the Metropolitan Cathedral. , The paucity of religious vocations among boys in Australia was spoken of by his Grace the Archbishop of Sydney at the distribution of prizes in connection with the Christian Brothers’ College, Waverley. The principal’s report had just been read before the Archbishop rose to speak. ‘ Some of Brother Couloir’s remarks coincide with. thoughts that have been in my mind for some time, and in some points I agree with him. I do not think,’ he went on, 1 that the boys of our higher schools pay sufficient attention .at home to the Christian doctrine. Why have we not a greater number of young fellows aspiring to be priests in Springwood and Manly Colleges? Why are the Christian. Brothers in such a dearth of Brothers? At this moment in the city alone we have two or three places where we could locate communities of Brothers to teach in , the schools, to say nothing of the country districts that are waiting for them; but the provincials tell us that they have not a single Brother to fill the vacancies. When they have so many going to their schools the fault must be somewhere, and it is not with' the Brothers. No boy could do better than be a Christian Brother. “Better be a priest,” some would say. Well,’ his Grace continued, ‘we are all in the same army whether God calls you to be a priest or a Brother,you will serve Him just the same.’