The Catholic World

New Zealand Tablet, 23 September 1915, Page 55

The Catholic World

ENGLAND v FRIENDSHIP WITH ITALY. * - v During the war Great Britain has ; been brought into closer contact with the Latin ;nations than it has ever been in the course of its history. The ' experience has already done it good and will be of great service in the future. It has shaken off many of its insular prejudices and recognises the noble qualities in the character of - Latin peoples. As evidence of this we (Catholic. Times) may mention a message addressed to the Italian nation and signed on the invitation of Lord Bryce, Lord Balfour of Burleigh, Lord Reay, Sir George Trevelyan, and Mr. Robert Henry Benson, by more than one hundred and fifty people of distinction arid authority in Great Britain. The signatories include -the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury, ten members of the Order of Merit, fifteen Lord Mayors or Lord Provosts of the greatest cities in the realm, five Chancellors of Universities, and a great array of authors, painters, scholars,,, scientists, statesmen, and clergymen. The message is an expression of comradeship, a record of respect and admiration for the conduct of Italy at this supreme crisis. We feci sure it will be cordially appreciated by the Italians. They have always displayed confidence in Great Britain, and it is but just to say that that feeling and the friendship resulting from it had much to do.,with the movement which brought Italy into the field.

A LINK WITH THE PAST. The feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, on July 16, was celebrated at the Carmelite Convent, Lanherne, St. Columb, Cornwall. There is a well attested tradition (says the Catholic. Timex) that even through the most perilous periods of the Reformation a priest, sometimes several, were to be found at Lanherne, and that the Blessed Sacrament has always ’ been kept there without a break through all the years of religious disaster. The Carmelite community at Lanherne were originally founded at Antwerp in 1619 by Lady Ann Level, and consisted of English ladies, who had gone over there for that purpose. Unhappily the’community were compelled, through the rapacity of the French in 1794, to return to England for safety. The eighth Lord Arundeil generously placed at their disposal his historic manor at Lanherne for their convent home— gift which they most gratefully accepted. This manor was the seat of the Arundells since the time of King Henry 111., and as early as 1376, Lady Jane de Arundell obtained episcopal permission to have Mass celebrated in her private chapel there. The Arundells in ■ early times possessed so much property and influence in Cornwall and elsewhere as to be called the ‘ Great Arundells.’ But far above the antiquity of their descent, dignity of connections, or earthly possessions, they prized their Catholic Faith, and amidst the changes and disasters of the Reformation they were amongst the foremost champions of the ancient faith of England. In the reign of Edward VI. Humphrey Arundell fell a victim to persecution, and died gloriously for his faith. His son, Sir John Arundell, was cast into prison for his faith by Queen Elizabeth, and the next heir, for the same holy cause, suffered the forfeiture of ■ two-thirds of his estates and of all his goods, and saved" the remnants of his possessions only by paying a fine of £3OOO and,an annual fine of £240 for non-attendance at the Established Church. Thus it is seen that the Lanherne mission is the oldest in Cornwall, having preserved unbroken its connection with pre-Reformation times. The good Carmelite nuns have continued to live there since, and spread blessings round them.

ITALY • y» . ••• _ ■ .. . THE! HOLY FATHER’S APPEAR. . The ll.lv Father’s letter to the Bishop of Rimini stating thatfrom -the beginning of ■ the- Italo-Austrian , war he felt uneasy for the cities on the Adriatic’coast, and accordingly wrote to the ' Emperor of Austria ex- . pressing the hope that the war would be conducted in I accordance with ' the -principles of international law | and ■ humanity, and ? that open, undefended : towns, artistic monuments, sacred edifices, and in particular | the sanctuary of Loreto, would be spared from bom- V bardment, has created an excellent impression in Italy. f

ROME ■ • i THE HOLY FATHER’S NAME DAY. Owing to the sadness of the days through v which I; the world is passing it was the wish of the Holy Father that the celebrations of his name-day, Sunday, July ? 25, the Feast of St. James the Greater,, should be on a very moderate scale (writes a Rome correspondent). £ Congratulations were tendered by the Sacred College A of Cardinals and the members of the Diplomatic Corps, il and the Roman Court. At 10 a.m. on Sunday they; Pontiff blessed the Agnus Dei, a ceremony which takes 1 place in the first year of a. pontificate, every fifth year, f' ; and in the Holy Year of Jubilee, and which goes back, K according to some authorities, to the eighth century.’| On the same day Professor Geutili, presented to his Holiness a magnificent tapestry representing the enthrone- i ment of St. Joseph in Heaven, a work,upon which he | has been engaged in the tapestry studio of the Vatican for the past five years. The Belgian prelates on the | occasion of the name-day offered a large mosaic representing the resurrection of Belgium, and his Holiness returned hearty thanks. During the day the military : men of the Vatican wore gala uniforms, and the band of the Pontifical Gendarmes, one of the finest of its : kind in Rome, executed a musical programme in the : Court of St. Damasus.

RETURNS OFFERINGS. On July 26, in the Consistorial Hall, his Holiness received in audience a large number of prominent representatives of the Catholic associations of Rome. The president of the ‘ Circolo San Pietro ’ — St. Peter’s Club—presented him with the sum of 10,000 lire (£400) as Peter’s Pence. The Holy Father, however, after having expressed his thanks for the generous gift, smilingly handed it back to the president, with a request that the money be devoted to the furtherance of the excellent work that is being done by the club in assisting the families of soldiers and other persons who are suffering on account of the war. UNITED STATES CATHOLIC POLES. The estimated number of Poles in the United States is three millionsa low estimate, probably. Almost all are Catholics. Of Bohemians and Moravians there are 800,000, 96 per'cent, of whom are Catholics. There are 800,000 Slovacs, .70 per cent. Catholics. The Slovenes, or . Slovenians, or Krainex-s, number 150,000, only a few of whom are non-Catholics. Of Catholic Croatians, Slavonians, and Dalmatians, there are 520,000. The Ruthenians and Lithuanians, the vast majority of whom are Catholics, are estimated at one million. Finally, . there , are a million Magyars, three-fourths of whom are said to belong to the Church. These figures will doubtless be a surprise to many native-born Catholics (says the Ave Maria). A great change is coming over the Church in this country. Seventy years ago the Polish families among us probably did not exceed fifty now there are a great many more Poles in Chicago alone than Catholics of all nationalities in the whole State of Indiana.