THE BELGIANS’ ‘ALMA MATER’

New Zealand Tablet, 29 April 1915, Page 35

THE BELGIANS’ ‘ALMA MATER’

‘/ Nowhere is the Church more intimately identified with every form .of intellectual, political, and social progress than in Belgium,’ writes „ John .; G. , Vance, in the British Review. He attributes .this (rays the Sacred Heart Review) to the enlightened policy of the 4 Belgian ' Bishops in fostering a great modern University; • .-In • 1834 the undergraduates of Louvain numbered only 84; within the last year there were 3000, which is . about the number of students at Cambridge University. Commenting on the great expense of maintaining the University of Louvain, which had no subsidy or grant of any kind from State, province, or commune, Mr. Vance asks, and answers, the question: ' ‘Whence, then, does, the governing body of Bishops' derive the means to finance the whole University and to pay its professors ? It will seem strange to many when they learn that the work is due entirely to the devotion and sacrifice of the Belgian Catholics. Rich and poor have contributed now for some eighty years to build up the University, which has been a common charge and a. common burden.’ •_ , The University is ‘ Alma Mater ’ to every Belgian Catholic, ‘ whether he be farm laborer or barrister,’ and at great personal sacrifice the work has been maintained, with the result that, we are told: _ ;S. ‘ The effect of the University on the influence and standing of the Catholic body and of the Catholic religion has been quite extraordinary. It is impossible for even the most prejudiced observer to suggest that Catholic faith and science are at variance in a country whose chief University is manned by priests and laymen, theologians, biologists, physicists, philosophers, medical men, and professors of law, all working harmoniously together, and all equally jealous in guarding the one Catholic faith. . . . Louvain, then, is a stumblingb l ock of considerable magnitude to those who hate Chris-* tianity. It is also, and above all, a source of incalculable strength to the Catholic body.’ This writer does not see in the town of Louvain the resemblance to Oxford and Cambridge that some writers claim for it. It lacked the air of wealth and ease, of exclusiveness, and the old buildings of the English Universities ; ‘ Its charm lay elsewhere. It attracted and captivated the attention of all who loved its traditions, because it stood for a mighty ideal which had been courageously pursued and fostered at the cost of many a sacrifice.’ . Mm Vance concludes his interesting paper with the hope that Louvain will once again take its place among the Universities of Europe —a hope that his readers share with him.