The Catholic World

New Zealand Tablet, 15 March 1917, Page 49

The Catholic World

CEYLON At the patriarchal age of 84, after 60 years of priestly ministry, 54 years of missionary work in the East, 48 of which were spent in Ceylon, fortified by all the rites of the Catholic Church there passed away at St. Joseph's College, Colombo, at 6 p.m., on Friday, January 5, Right Rev. John Aloysius Mayer, Doctor of Divinity, Missionary Apostolic, Chamberlain of his Holiness the Pope. Without a pang, without a struggle, calmly, peacefully, like a child falling asleep in the arms of his mother, with a gentle expression on his lips, which made him look younger in death, the venerable servant of God rendered his soul to his Maker and Master. It was such a death as the gorgeous world seldom sees in the midst of its empty pageantry. It was a death worth while going a long way to witness, one that was full of inspiration and consolation. ENGLAND THE GOVERNMENT AND CATHOLICS. The Bishop of Northampton, in his Advent Pastoral, pays an eloquent tribute to the British people for the religious liberty which Catholics now enjoy throughout the Empire. There is in Europe no other Empire or State where Catholics are so free from Government interference in their religious work. As the Bishop says, this was not always so. In England, Ireland, and Scotland, the Catholics have had a long and painful struggle in the assertion of their rights. Looking back through three centuries we wonder at the hostility they encountered. Dr. Keating" refers to the debt which the Catholics of this country owe to the Irish Nationalist Party for their undeviating advocacy of the educational claims of their co-religionists in Great Britain. This debt is but part of what is due to the Irish Catholics. They took the lead in the fight for emancipation, and it was through their firmness and insistence it was secured. For abandoning persecution and extending liberty to the Catholics the country has been well repaid. They—lrish for the most part — have done their share of its heavy and most dangerous work in peace and war, and have earned and rec n ' , ' N more than their due share of honors for bravery in the present conflict. What a pity it is that in the minds of the Irish Catholics who are so courageously helping to uphold the British flag the thought rankles that, owing to prejudice, Ireland's right to have her own Parliament is still denied her ! A STOCK-TAKING. The appearance of that hardy annual, the Catholic Directory, enables a comparison to be made between the position of the Church in Great Britain at the end of 1916 and that occupied 12 months previously, in regard to such details as the numbers of bishops and priests, churches, etc. As usual the comparison affords food for satisfaction. The hierarchy, including coadjutor and auxiliary bishops, has risen from 25 to 26, and there is a net increase of 33 churches during the year, the figure being 2351 as against 2318. The one item in the account in which there is a small decrease is that which shows the number of Catholic priests now in Great Britain; these are given as 4451, whereas at the end of 1915 there were 4468. The difference in numbers is, of course, insignificant, and it is explained by the return of foreign priests to their native soil and other movements due to the war. The real and definite proof that the Church is not falling back, but on the contrary, continues to make headway in the kingdom, is found in the addition of over thirty churches. Bearing in mind that the year has not been one for unnecessary building operations, we may be certain that these further buildings in the Catholic sum-total were put up only because they were badly wanted.