Current Topics

New Zealand Tablet, 23 October 1913, Page 21

Current Topics

That Conscience Clause At his Garrison Hall lecture some time ago in 1 reply' to Bishop Cleary the Very Rev. Dean Fitchett vehemently repudiated the notion that the religious bodies composing the Bible in State Schools 'League were in any way committed to the worse than fraudulent ' conscience clause ' of the 'Australian' system. At the meeting of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in 1910 a committee was appointed to prepare a report on the New South Wales system of religious instruction in public schools'; and in going through our Bible-in-schools cuttings the other day for information on another point we happened to alight on the report submitted by that committee. After setting forth various points in the New South Wales Public Instruction Act which it approves or disapproves, the report concludes thus: ' The committee approves of the "conscience clause" in section 18.' The report of this committee was adopted by the General Assembly at its meeting in 1911. All the Bible-in-schools denominations have by plain and unmistakable inference endorsed the obnoxious ' conscious clause '; while the Presbyterian body has expressly and officially committed itself to it. A Manly Tribute. 'I like the Roman Catholic Church because it stands so immovable in its allegiance to Jesus Christ, as very God. None of its leaders ever question the Divinity of Jesus. I like it because it believes in the religious training of its children, and at great sacrifice of time and money, gives it. I like it because it stands for the purity of home life and the sanctity of the marriage vows. Thank God for that Church's strong and clear protest against the cheap divorce-mills that disgrace our American civilisation. I honor it for its defence of the Bible. I especially thank God for the stand that Church takes in this land against anarchy on the one hand, and an impossible socialism on the other. T go to sleep every night with a firmer feeling of security because we have in this city the Roman Catholic Church.' * This honest and manly tribute is a quotation from a sermon by a Methodist clergyman recently read at a meeting of the Catholic Federation in Seattle. It is not only true—it is indisputably and incontestably true. There is not a sentence in it which the blindest bigot or the wildest. zealot can question less deny. It is .just the sorb of tribute which one would expect an honest and fair-minded man to pay to the Church of the ages. That such tributes from our Protestant friends are not more frequent than they are only goes to show that honest and fair-minded men are somewhat scarce. A Tariff Question It is announced that the Government intend to submit to Parliament this session proposals which provide for at least an instalment of tariff revision. Certain rumours have appeared in the daily papers as to the particular items which are to be the subject of the proposed changes; but these statements are not authorised, and in official circles the secrecy usually observed regarding contemplated tariff alterations is being maintained. If the question of tariff revision—even on a limited scaleis under serious consideration by the Government it seems to us that the Prime Minister's attention might well be drawn to the desirableness of reducing, or, tetter still, of abolishing the duties on articles imported for use in religious worship. We refer, of course, to those articles which cannot be manufactured in this country. The duty on chalices, monstrances, statuary, etc., is very high, amounting, "with the preferential surtax against foreign goods, to practically 30 per cent, ad valorem; and the aggregate amount paid by our churches under that head runs into

a considerable sum. In America, it would seem, several Catholic prelates have been . making efforts to secure • a more reasonable arrangement of the tariff in regard to material or objects imported for' the use of churches. In the record of tariff hearings before the Ways and Means Committee (says an American exchange) are several letters in identically the same language, as follows: - 'The undersigned respectfully urges upon your committee and congress that the duty on stained glass windows shall be reduced to 25 per cent., and that provision be made in the free list of the new Tariff Act for the free entry of statuary and casts of sculpture imported for the use of churches and other societies of a religious or educational nature.' All of these letters are signed 'by such prelates as Archbishop Prendergast of Philadelphia, Archbishop Riordan of San Francisco, Archbishop Keane of Dubuque, Bishop Colton of Buffalo, and others. A Fishy Story The following paragraph with a distinctly fishy flavor is going the rounds of some of our dailies, and has been forwarded to us for comment by one or two correspondents. It appeared originally in the London Daily Chronicle, having been sent by that imaginative ' Milan correspondent' who supplies the Chronicle from time to time with truly remarkable ' Rome news. The paragraph runs: ' The Pope set his seal on July 22 on a much-debated case of exceptional interest in ecclesiastical law. Father Gaetano Arena, an . Italian secular priest, who had been exercising the functions of the Roman priesthood for twelve years past, recently desired to be freed from all sacerdotal obligations, on the plea that he was merely constrained by his parents, while under age, to enter the sacred ministry. Pius X. pronounces the ordination null, and will restore to Arena all the rights of ordinary citizenship, including that of contracting religious marriage. It is believed that the decision will have a far-reaching effect in the ranks of the Roman Catholic clergy.' * The ridiculous comment in the last sentence is itself sufficient to render the story suspect; and "the further absolutely untrue statement that ' Pius X. pronounces the ordination null'. is certainly not calculated to inspire confidence. For, as the least instructed Catholic knows, 'once a priest, always a priest i; and not even the Pope himself can pronounce an ordination null. The paragraph has been admirably dealt with by the reverend editor of the Catholic Herald of India; and we cannot do better than hand on our esteemed contemporary's comments: 'On the face of it, this is a full-fledged canard. That a man, after twelve years in the sacred ministry, and therefore at the very least 36 years of age, should suddenly plead that he was morally constrained by his parents to enter the ministry, and that his plea should be accepted, well, this sounds preposterous. The minimum age for ordination to : the priesthood is 24—is this under age? It is true, he contracted the obligation of celibacy when be became subdeacon, let us say at the age of 22,"most likely 23, or perhaps even 24. At this ceremony, when he was presented for the grade of subdeacon, he was solemnly warned by the bishop at the beginning of the ceremony regarding the gravity of the obligation which he was incurring. ' You ought,' he was told in the words of the Ritual, " anxiously to consider again and again what sort of a burden this is which you are taking upon you of your own accord. Up to this you are free. You may still, if you choose, turn to the ; aims -and desires of the world. But if you receive this order, it will no longer be lawful to turn back from your purpose. You will be required to continue in the service of God, and with His assistance to observe chastity and to be bound for ever in the ministrations of the Altar, to serve whom is to reign.' By stepping forward despite this warning, when invited to do so, and by co-operating in the rest of the ordination service, the candidate is understood to bind himself equivalently by a vow) of chastity... He is henceforth unable to contract, a valid marriage. No doubt, the Pope can dispense in the

case of impediments which : are of ecclesiastical right, and ?. ecclesiastical celibacy surely falls under that head. But the v question is whether he did dispense, and as we have >no other authority than that of the Milan correspondent of the Daily Chronicle —the Acta Ajjosiolicac Scdis have not recorded this "far-reaching" decision-we v are entitled, at the very least, to say, Wait and see ! In the meantime, let us remark that there is one thing which is perfectly —the Pope did not, and could not, pronounce the ordination nidi: Once a priest, it is "in aeternum." .''.,. The Power of Protest C A word in season,' says the. sacred writer, 'how good it is!' Illustrations of the value of a timely word of protest against such evils as indecent or offensive literature have been literally pouring in upon us of late. A few weeks ago we protested against an objectionable anti-Catholic story which appeared in a well-known Christchurch weekly, the Canterbury Times; and the editor promptly sent us an ample apology, and an assurance that no further fiction would be purchased by the 'office from what had proved to be such an unreliable and disreputable source. Last week we recorded the. case of a Wellington bookseller, who, on having 'his attention drawn by the secretary of the Catholic 1 deration to the offensive character of a book which he was advertising, at once withdrew the advertisement, and undertook to take no further orders for the volume, asking at the same time to be kept advised by the Federation in regard to offensive books so that he might avoid stocking such publications. A further instance of a prompt and satisfactory response to a Catholic protest against vile and calumnious literature is furnished by American exchanges to hand. The ' literature' in this case was one of the most unsavory productions of the unsavory Chiniquy;. and the protester was the reverend librarian of an important Catholic educational institution. The protest was embodied in the following letter, which was addressed some shore time ago to the Tabard Inn Book Company, of Philadelphia, by the librarian of St. Mary's College, North East, Pa.: ' To the Tabard Inn Book Company, Philadelphia, ' On perusing.your " Catalogue of Book Bargains" for 1913 we came across this item (page 51): 'The Priest, the Woman, and the Confessional, by Father Chiniquy, author of Fifty Years -in the Church of Rome, the forty-third edition, published by Fleming H. Revell Company at one dollar: our price, 75 cents. Now, we cannot understand how a respectable firm can publish such a scurrilous book without making itself partner to the offense and besmirching its good name ! But what we are still more puzzled about is, how another respectable firm can handle such a vile attack, brimful of indecencies ,and lies—and at the same time be bold enough — avoid a stronger expres-sion-—to offer the catalogue containing it to a Catholic institution. Now, please take notice "of the following: If you send us henceforth any catalogues, advertisements, etc., they shall go into the waste basket unnoticed. Besides, this letter, with explanations of the case of F. Chiniquy, will be sent to the Catholic papers!' The Catholic Chronicle of Erie, Pa., ajso took a hand in the matter, and supplemented this outspoken letter by a protest of its own from which we quote a sentence or two: ' Here comes a firm of publishers, the Fleming H. Revell Company, and dares'to publish phiniquy's "scurrilous attacks"'' (a very, very moderate expression) and another booksellers' firm, the Tabard Inn Company, puts them in their catalogues; and both have the effrontery to send their solicitations for trade to the same Catholics whom they have thereby so grievously offended ! If Catholics henceforth withdraw their patronage from such as must seem "Allies of The, Menace," can any one blame their conduct?' * The Tabard Inn Book Company, of Philadelphia, has now replied to the note addressed to it by the Redemptorist: Fathers of North East; and has intimated its intention of withdrawing its whole stock of

Chiniquy s volume from sale. The company says it .was wholly unconscious of the lascivious contents of Ciuniquys book.' <We never pretended to have read the thousands of books -which we purchase from other concerns—the mere mention of such a thing being possible we feel assured will appear as ridiculous to you as to ourselves. Therefore, we cannot see ourselves so worthy, of censure as your article indicates.' In conclusion, the company's correspondent writes- 'lt is not our intention to involve ourselves in any controversy with the reverend clergy at St. Mary's College or the Erie Catholic Chronicle. Our business principles nave never heretofore been questioned and in this instance we have the satisfaction of feeling that we acted most amicably when we decided to allow -the several copies of The Priest, the Woman, and the Lonfesuonal which we now have in stock to be classed unsalable thereby rendering a complete loss to ourselves However, such is our principle and the fairminded reader of your article who has ever dealt with us we feel assured will vouch for the authenticity of this statement.' It, no doubt occasionally happens as here, that the bookseller has acted in ignorance but wherever he is called upon to make any little sacrifice because of his mistake it may safely be asserted that he will go', it all back.