Intercolonial

New Zealand Tablet, 9 December 1915, Page 51

Intercolonial

The fund for placing a memorial over the grave of ihe late Archbishop O’Beily, of Adelaide, closed with a total of £IOO.

A nonagenarian Irishman, Dr. Grady, died in the Hospice of the Dying, Sydney, the other day. He took out his degrees in America, and practised in the country parts of New South Wales for many years. He was a fine old gentleman, was in the full possession of his faculties to the, end, and died a holy death, y Sixteen hundred members of the Catholic Young Men’s Society in Melbourne received Holy Communion on Sunday, November 21 .in St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Subsequently the annual Communion breakfast was held in the Cathedral Hall, at which the Archbishop of Melbourne delivered an interesting address.

Mr. J. Brown, Ellice street, Wellington, writes to us as follows:—‘ You had a short article in a. recent issue of the N.Z. Tablet referring to the late Dr. Backhaus, the first Catholic priest in Bendigo; he was also the first Catholic priest on any of the Victorian''goldfields. I was working at Bendigo as a digger -when Dr. Backhaus settled there. I remember a great many people blamed Father Backhaus for taking up so much land. He replied that Bendigo might be a diocese some day, a bishop would reside there, the land would be required for churches and schools, and it would be much easier and cheaper to acquire the land then than later , on. Father Backhaus lived for a long time in a tent. His first church was a large tent. There were no benches in the church to sit upon.'*' I do not suppose there are many living now who were on the Bendigo goldfields at that time.’

His Grace the Archbishop of Melbourne has received a letter from Cardinal Logue, in the course of which his Eminence says:—‘l have received your Grace’s letter, enclosing a draft for £525., I am sending the draft to Mgr. Do Wachter, the Auxiliary of Cardinal Mercier in London, with instructions to dispose of it according to your Grace’s directions. This, as far as I remember, makes well over £3OOO which your Grace has sent for the Belgian nuns and general purposes. . . . To-day I enter on my seventy-sixth year, which gives me food for serious consideration. I am just as usual, thank God but the years creep on, all the same. We have a teeming crop in Ireland this year, thank God, and beautiful weather just now to save it. This and all the aid Divine Providence may send is sadly necessary, considering the ever-growing burden of this terrible war. No one can forecast when it may end, and the burden is still growing at a fearful rate.

During the recent visit of the Apostolic Delegate to Bendigo, the Italians in the city and of Eaglehawk had the honor of the first interview with his Excellency. There were 28 men, their wives and children. His Excellency shook hands with each one, and asked to which part of Italy they belonged. Signor Poletti read a short address. He thanked his Excellency for granting them the privilege of a private audience. Being their compatriot, they longed to greet him, and wished to assure him that, though far from the Bella Italia, they clung to their faith, the faith given them by Jesus Christ, and handed down to them by Peter and his successors, the Popes : that they were lovingly attached to the Holy Father, and to the Chair of Peter. They were glad to tell him that they were happy in, Australia, that the strong bond of faith united them closely to the Irish in Australia. They begged his blessing for

themselves and families. His Excellency spoke to them in Italian. He said he was very, very pleased to find such a colony of good and faithful Italians in Bendigo; He exhorted them to be good, practical Catholics, and reminded them that the glories of Italy in the past have come to her from the Catholic Church.