CATHOLIC FEDERATION

New Zealand Tablet, 16 July 1914, Page 26

CATHOLIC FEDERATION

CHRISTCHURCH DIOCESAN COUNCIL. FIRST ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING. (From our own correspondent.) The first annual general meeting of the Christchurch Diocesan Council of the Catholic Federation was opened on Wednesday afternoon, July 8, in the Federation rooms, Wiltshire Buildings, Christchurch. The Very Rev. Dean Hills, S.M., V.G., opened the meeting witli prayer .and feelingly referred to the cause preventing his Lordship the Bishop from attending. His Lordship much desired (continued the Dean) to be present at the deliberations of the conference, and had looked forward to meeting the delegates, but the fates decreed otherwise. Although unfortunately absent, his Lordship was in spirit with them, and would await with deep interest the results of their consideration of the many important subjects appearing on the agenda paper. On the motion of Mr. W. Angland (Timaru) a resolution was unanimously passed deeply sympathising with his Lordship the Bishop in his illness, and expressing the earnest hope that his Lordship would speedily be restored to good health. Representatives of the diocesan clergy present at the different sessions and mass meeting in the Art Gallery were the Very Rev. Dean Tubman, S.M. (Timaru), Very Rev. Dean Hyland (Rangiora), Very Rev. Chancellor Price, Adm. (Cathedral), Rev. Fathers O’Donnell (Ashburton), Richards (Hawarden), Cooney (Lyttelton), Fanning, M.S.H. (Darfield), O’Connor (Lincoln), Very Rev. Father Graham, S.M., M.A., and Rev. Father Quinn, S.M. (St. Bede’s College), Rev. Father Hoare, S.M. (St. Mary’s, Christchurch North), Rev. Fathers Cronin and Long (Cathedral). The following lay delegates representing branches attended;—Mr, J. R. Hayward and Mr. M. Garty (Cathedral), Messrs. W. Hayward, jun., and Griffin (with executive representative) (St. Mary’s, Christchurch North), executive representative (Lyttelton), Messrs. W. Angland and J. P. Leigh (Timaru), J. Tangey (Morven-Waimate), M. J. Liddy and P. Tully (Rakaia), F. J. Poff and J. McAnulty '(Methven), S. Madden (Ashburton), R. Callaghan and Bachelor (St. Andrews), H. D. Tomlinson and W. Barry (Fairlie), M. Fitzglbbon (Loburn), S. J. Ryan (Rangiora), White and Mrs. P. Burke (Hawarden), Messrs J. Cunneen and M. F. Ryan (Lincoln), and J. Walsh (proxy, Geraldine). The president (Mr. W. Hayward, jun.) presided, and very cordially welcomed the delegates. The large and representative attendance was (he said) most cheering, and augured well for the future success of the Federation movement. Enthusiasm in the cause was evidently growing, and the fine spirit manifested on all sides gave great heart to those who were watching mu'’ interests and guiding our destinies socially, economically and religiously. The half-yearly report of the executive committee showed that six meetings had been held, the attendance never being more than one below the full strength. Executive action was found necessary in at least three primary causes concerning the safe-guarding of Catholic interests and in vindication of our religious and citizen rights, the results in each instance being entirely satisfactory. The report referred to the opening of several new and evidently energetic branches in Canterbury, and the pleasure of the executive in . welcoming for the first time delegates from St. Andrews and Morven. The statement of accounts showed that subscriptions representing 4280 members had been received for the half-year to June 30, amounting to £l6l 3s 3d. Working expenses absorbed £l9 16s. A refund of £3 was made to Timaru branch for expenses incurred in suppressing an objectionable play. £ll6 4s *4d was remitted, to the Dominion Executive; the credit balance ! in hand being £24 12s lOd,

Excellent reports were received from, all brandies (with one exception) in Canterbury, but none from Westland. Without this information being available it is impossible to intimate the numerical strength of the Federation. The Rev. Father Fanning, M. 5.11. (Darfield) stated that his wide parochial district, although slow in starting, was now being organised for Federation purposes and would soon occupy a prominent place in the movement. Adequate reasons were given for the delay. The election of officers and members of executive committee for the ensuing year was next proceeded with. This resulted in all being returned unopposed, the only*change being the two vice-presidents representing country districts. The executive committee is as follows:—President, Mr. W. Hayward, jun. ; vice-presi-dents— J. R. Hayward (Christchurch) ; W. Angland (Timaru), and W. Barry (Fairlie) treasurer, Mr. M. Garty ; secretary, Mr. J. J. Wilson. The executive includes representatives of St. Mary’s and Lyttelton by standing arrangements. The Very Rev. Dean Hyland (Rangiora), Mr. J. R. Hayward (Christchurch), and Mr. W. Angland (Timaru) were appointed diocesan representatives on the Dominion Council. At this stage the conference adjourned until the following evening, when a lengthy agenda paper received exhaustive consideration, a report of which will appear in next issue. A GREAT CATHOLIC DEMONSTRATION. SPIRITED PROTEST ON THE BIBLE-IN-SCHOOLS QUESTION. In connection with the diocesan conference of the Christchurch Federation Council there was & very large attendance at a reception of delegates and meeting of protest against the Bible-in-Schools League methods, and especially with regard to the proposed referendum. The Very Rev. Dean Hills, who presided, said that he regretted to have to announce that Bishop Grimes, who was to have taken the chair, was unable to attend. On Saturday night his Lordship suffered from a severe attack and now was in the Lewisham Hospital, Bealey Avenue. The speaker welcomed all present, and especially the delegates, some of whom, he said, had come long distances. His Lordship had sent a message expressing his regret at not being able to attend, but conveying his blessing to all. The Dean read the following telegram from his Grace Archbishop O’Shea.. Wellington : ‘ Wish your demonstration in cause of liberty and freedom of conscience every success.’ Dean Hills then read the following notes dictated, he said, by his Lordship Bishop Grimes from his sick bed; BISHOP GRIMES’S VIEWS. 1 had fully intended to be present to-night to welcome the delegates from the different parishes and to congratulate them on the work which they have done

throughout the diocese; but man proposes and God disposes. However, 1 have been urged to dictate something and, although not easy to do so from a sick bed, I have tried. What I should like to say is: We Catholics have always shown the greatest love and veneration for the Bible. In our great assemblies, called the Councils of the Church, it has pride of place, surrounded by cardinals, patriarchs, and prelates. In solemn Mass, it is borne in procession, preceded by acolytes with lighted candles and incense. Afterwards, it is presented to the presiding.prelate, or priest, to be kissed. In the Missals, Breviaries, and other liturgical books, the psalms of David, the prophecies, epistles and gospels are most prominent. From the day he becomes subdeacon the cleric is bound to repeat them seven times a. day. In their colleges they are taught to treasure the Bible, and to recite every day, on bended knees, a part of the New Testament. In fact, do we not owe it to the Catholic Church that we have the Bible? Long centuries before the invention of printing the bishops, priests, and monks made it one of the principal works of their lives to hand down to us volumes of the Bible in the beautifully illuminated pages which, in the museums and libraries of Europe, are the admiration of every beholder. And vet, to their shame be it said, a certain class would have the inspired word of God treated on a. par with books of geography, grammar,, and arithmetic and thrust into the schools of the land. If they were to imitate Catholics and allow themselves to be penalised to the tune of ,£IOO,OOO a year, even then it would not be logical to attempt to foist an emasculated or caricatured Bible, for such is the one they wish to be introduced into the schools. The Ministers of the Crown are to be invested with greater rights than those of bishops, priests, or parsons, and make choice of the parts of the Bible to be introduced. Teachers of every or no religion are to give these parts out as a daily portion of the curriculum. Then, they say, there is to be a conscience clause for those who naturally object to such an incongruous doling out of the Word of God. But will there be a conscience clause to prevent us, and others, who object with us, to pay the additional penalty necessary to compensate for teaching which satisfies the comparatively few who insist upon such teaching ? Will there be a conscience clause for the many teachers who naturally object to teach such garbled accounts of the Word of God ? If the State can do this, could not the Government, at the command of one or two denominations forming a majority, set up with equal justice any uniform scheme with State or Church? Every child must attend the Bible lessons unless he has a written exemption from his parents but every teacher must give the lessons without any exemption, or submit to dismissal from the service. Surely the teacher has a conscience as well as the parent. Those who are advocates of this system infer that those who would claim exemption therefrom are opposed to the Bible teaching. On the contrary, it is our deep religious convictions that move us to object to such a diluted form of re-

ligious instruction. According to the system the conscience clause gives only the liberty to go without the form of religious instruction. Why should they go without,? Should not the State meet their desires also ? The State must provide acceptably for all or for none. it is sectarianism, not secularism, which makes it impossible to provide justly for all. Hence, on these or other grounds, which 1 cannot enter into, we vehemently protest against such a gross injustice. It is our love of the Bible which prompts us to treat it with due respect and reverence. ADDRESS BY MR. LOUGHNAN. Mr. 11. 11. Loughnan said that the object of the Bible-in-Schools League was to remedy certain defects in the system of education. The present national education system had been in operation in Canterbury for about forty years. During that time, the Catholics had refused to have anything to do with it. The objections were deep-seated, and were based on sound and conscientious grounds. For forty years the Catholics had erected their own school buildings at their own expense, and in that way had proved the sincerity of their objections to the system. The League had now discovered that the secular system was a godless system. It had made the discovery only lately, although the Catholics had known it for forty years. The League now condemned it in unmeasured terms. One of the League’s writers said that * our children arc being brought up in white heathenism.’ Other League writers said that the system was a, system of dogmatic secularism: a godless system, quite wrong; it gave liberty to atheism, none to Christianity ; it was an atheistic system of education; it degraded morals, and so on. These were strong expressions, and it might be thought that the persons who used them would devise vigorous measures to remedy the defects. The League, for instance, might establish schools all over the country as the Catholics did. It, might make its voice heard in Parliament, where its supporters were in a majority. But it did none of these things. Its remedy was that accredited representatives of religion should be allowed to teach religion in school hours. How many ministers took advantage of the permission they enjoyed to teach religion out of school hours? Another of the League's remedies was the selection of parts of Holy Writ to be read in the schools in a non-sectarian manner, in the same way as an ordinary lesson. Who would make the selection. The Minister of Education might not he a suitable man. If the choice did not rest with him, could the Education Department do it Could a body of clerks make a selection suitable for the large number of sects represented in tlie schools? What kind of description could a teacher give of the resurrection, of our Lord .to suit Jews. But now came the demand for a referendum. Every piece of legislation that encroached on the right of freedom of conscience was unlawful in itself, and to submit a. proposal that there should be suck legislation to the elector was absolutely wrong and indefensible. The referendum was the most iniquitous proposal over made in connection with the Bible in schools question. It was the last straw. If the camel’s back was capable of being broken, that straw would have broken it. For forty years the Catholics of Canterbury had stood persecution. For forty years more they would continue to do so if necessary. If the time should never come when the Catholics could make their voices heard 'in Parliament, if they could never get amelioration of the present conditions, if they could never get assistance for their schools, they would continue to carry on their schools at their own cost, as they had done in the past and were doing now. MOTION OF PROTEST AGAINST REFERENDUM Mr. W. Angland (Timaru), in the course of a vigorous address, urged the federation of Catholics as a bulwark of defence, and the only effective means of gaining relief from many long-standing grievances and preventing the infliction of others. The Federation had already done a great work. He said that the educational question was a very important one. In New

Zealand the Catholics had established 156 schools, with an average attendance of 13,500, and a roll number of 14,500, and the cost approximately was £IOO,OOO. The only way to remove the injustice was to bring every Catholic into the Federation and to demand a subsidy lor Catholic schools, lie moved That this mass meeting of Catholics, under the auspices of the Christchurch Diocesan Council of the New Zealand Catholic Federation, representing the Catholic voters of Canterbury and Westland, in common with the 80,000 Catholic voters of the Dominion, while thoroughly appreciating the efforts of non-Catholics to provide moral teaching, based upon religious principles, in the schools, emphatically protests against the introduction of Biblercading into the State schools, and against the proposed referendum on the question as a violation of the rights of conscience of a large section of citizens, an injustice to teachers, and an iniquitous proposal to tax all the people to pay for the teaching of a religion acceptable to certain denominations onlv, and utterly opposed to the beliefs of others; copies of the resolution to be forwarded to the Prime Minister and Members representing the districts.’ Mr. W. Hayward seconded the motion. lie said that it was very opportune, and he could say nothing that would add to its emphasis. The motion was carried unanimously, amidst loud applause. « During the evening songs were given by Misses Grant and Gardiner, and Messrs. J. Pennell and J. R. Hayward, a recitation by Mr. F. Macdonald, a violin solo by Mr. -W. Mercer, and a pianoforte duct and choruses by pupils of St. Mary’s Convent. Afterwards in the supper-room the clergy, the delegates, executive officers, and representatives of the Cathedral and St. Mary’s branches of the Federation were entertained to light refreshments by the president (Mr. W. Hayward). The Art Gallery is a more spacious building than its name would imply, and was quite crowded. The audience manifested its whole-hearted approval of the sentiments expressed by the various speakers, and the enthusiasm and unanimity, punctuated with vigorous applause, proved how deeply interested all were in the proceedings. WELLINGTON. (From our Wellington correspondent.) July 11. Work is the order of the day at the present time at the headquarters of the Federation, the introduction of the Bible-in-schools Referendum Bill being to a large extent responsible for the present activities. The business of the' recent deputations, preparation of the petitions, the proposed demonstration, and the preparations for the forthcoming Dominion Council meeting have all tended to provide strenuous work for the executive and staff. The Catholic petitions are being* divided into electorates, and each member of Parliament is asked to present the signatures of his Catholic constituents. This is Doing done daily, the first batch being put in by Mr. Veitch, the member for Wanganui. His Grace Archbishop O’Shea, is especially busy, he having cancelled his- proposed visit to Fiji in order to stand by his people in resisting the unjust Bill brought down by the Government, The demonstration will, it is hoped, be the greatest Catholic function ever yet attempted in this city, and advantage is to be taken of the occasion to have the diocesan council meeting on the 21st and the Dominion Council meeting on the 22nd, so that representatives from all parts of the Dominion, as well as the archdiocese, will be present. The demonstration will take place on July 21 at the Town Hall, prior to which a monster procession of all the Catholic societies, sodalL' tie?, and clubs, with the delegates from other parts, the Bishops and clergy, and bands, will march from St. Joseph’s to the Town Hall, where speeches will bo delivered by the Bishops and prominent laymen, inter-

spersed with musical items. Mr. 11. F. O’Leary will preside, and admission will be free, tickets being obtainable at the church doors on the Sunday prior to the function. DUNEDIN DIOCESAN COUNCIL. A meeting of the above was held on Monday, July 13, at the Bishop’s House, Rattray street. The Rev. Father Coffey, Adm., presided. The rev. chairman warmly. welcomed those delegates who had come such long distances at , great personal inconvenience to attend, and it augured well for the success of the movement when the spirit of selfsacrifice was manifested so readily. The report read by the lion, secretary disclosed the fact that the membership had increased from 3049 to 5080 ; that all the branches were beginning to realise the importance of the work; that while a good deal bad already been accomplished, there was much more to do that only when every Catholic vote was placed upon both parliamentary and municipal registers could the full influence of the Catholic body be felt in public affairs, and that our branches were working towards that end. Graceful tributes of appreciation were paid to Mr. Girling-Butcher, the Dominion organiser, who at much personal inconvenience during the winter months had toured the diocese, and the hope was expressed that he would be long spared to continue his good work with the zeal and enthusiasm he displays : to Miss Mary Callan, whose resignation caused such a void in the executive on her removal to Auckland : to the Editor of the Tablet, whose interest in the Federation is extremely keen and continuous ; and lastly to the various officers of branches and local committees, particularly the hon. secretaries, as upon them devolves the heavy and responsible work which, if left undone, means so much to the movement. The hon. treasurer’s report disclosed a credit balance of £G3. Messrs. T. McQuillan, J. A. Brown, D. L. Poppelwell, and the Rev. Father Coffey commented upon the reports, which were adopted. The sum of .£2O was passed for payment towards the expenses of the Dominion organiser. The election of officers resulted as‘follows:President, Rev. Father Coffey, Adm. ; vice-presidents, Messrs. D. L. Poppelwell and James Kelleher; hon. •secretary, Mr. J. Hally; hon. treasurer,' Mr. T. J. Hussey; auditor, Mr. J. A.- Brown; delegates to Dominion Executive, Rev. Father Coffey, Messrs. D. L. Poppelwell, and J. Hally. The following resolution protesting against the proposed referendum on the Bible-in-schools question was submitted to the meeting and carried unanimously : ‘ That this meeting, representing over 20,000 Catholics of the diocese of Dunedin, enters its strong protest against the proposed referendum upon the Bible-in-schools question, on the following grounds, viz.—(1) That such referendum is subversive to the rights of a large number of the people of the Dominion, in as much as it proposes to settle-a pure question of conscience by a majority vote. (2) That the proposed scheme is simply an attempt by a section of the community to foist upon the people a narrow sectarian system at the public expense. (3) That the , State, as such, has no authority to teach religion, and the proposed referendum, if carried, will be a mandate both to frame and teach, at the public expense, a. State religion which in time might not even be Christiart. (4) That the form of the proposed referendum is unfair to a large number of voters, clouds rather than exposes the real question at issue, and makes no provision for ascertaining the opinion of the people on the broad question ; Should religious instruction accompany education ? ’ A copy of the above will be forwarded to the Right Jlon. Mr. Massey, the Hon. Mr. Allen (Minister of

Education), and all the M.B.’s in the Otago and Southland district. The resolution was proposed by Mr. D. L. Poppelwell, who analyzed the matter very cleverly. He strongly upheld the rights of minorities, when their conscientious beliefs were in question. He denounced the crying injustice to those teachers who were left no option in the matter, and scathingly commented upon the iniquity of the proposal to pay for a system of religious lessons with Christianity cut out. The Rev. Father Delany, in seconding the resolution, argued that Catholics paid their, due proportion towards the maintenance of the present system of education, from which they derived in return very little benefit in fact, the more the Catholic children the less the benefit, because in the larger centres they establish, equip, and carry on schools at their own expense, but nevertheless, he said, we Catholics (as shareholders equally with our (fellowcitizens) object to our money, our schools, our buildings, and our teachers being utilised in the manner proposed, and against our will. ASHBURTON. (From our own correspondent.) There was a good attendance at the annual meeting of the local branch of the Catholic Federation. Rev. Father O’Donnell presided. The report and balance sheet showed the branch to be in a flourishing condition, especially as regards registrations. . The following committee was elected for the ensuing year: Rev. Father O’Donnell, Messrs. P. Devaney, N. Fitzgerald, J. Carney, F. J. Holley, M. J. Moriarty, D. McDonnell, .1. Madden, W. J. Cunningham, M. J. Burgess, and J. llannigan. Votes of thanks were passed to the outgoing officers, a similar vote to the chairman concluding the business.