CASUAL CLIPPINGS

New Zealand Tablet, 28 June 1917, Page 32

CASUAL CLIPPINGS

Addressing a large gathering recently in Sydney on the subject of the completion . of St. Mary’s Cathedral, his ' Grace Archbishop Kelly diverted for a moment in order to give an instance of the determination and priestly zeal of the late Father Therry, pioneer priest of the archdiocese. On one occasion he went to an institution to attend a sick patient, lie told the servant who opened the door, “Ask the Governor may I have permission to see a patient.” The servant went on his errand, and Father Therry went to his patient. On leaving the institution, Father Therry met the servant, who said : “The Governor will not grant you permission to see the patient.” “Thank you,” replied Father Therry. “I have already seen my patient.” (Laughter and applause.) The enemies of the Church lost no opportunities of persecuting Father Therry, his Grace proceeded, but that did not stop him. lie kept on. In spite of all things, that was the way the Church was carried on. Only a short while ago part of the foundation stone of the original St. Mary’s Church had been discovered. Sufficient of the stone was recovered to enable them to be sure of the whole of the inscription, which was in Latin. Archbishop Vaughan had worked at St. Mary’s, his Eminence the Cardinal had worked at it, and now we were working at. it. (Applause).

Just at the time when Sir Henry' Bellingham has been warning Irish Catholics against allowing themselves to fall into the habit of using in the press and in conversation terms which imply acquiescence in Protestant pretensions that are quite unjustifiable, a case in point has come before Mr. Justice Sargant in the London Chancery Division. When by force and guile the United Protestant Established Church of England and Ireland gained the upper hand at the so-called Reformation, “made in Germany,” the innovators robbed the Catholic Church in both countries to their hearts’ content, rejecting Papal authority and other fundamental Catholic doctrines, but seizing and retaining everything else that could be of any use to them. They substituted the spiritual authority of the King for that of the Pope, and persecuted the Catholics by means of executions, imprisonments, and fines, but they appropriated the emoluments and also the titles of the Catholic Sees. Hence, though the Car-dinal-Archbishop of Armagh, a Catholic prelate, has the title of Primate of All Ireland, the Protestant Archbishop of (he See to-day claims to hold the same title. The question whether the State should recognise the title, though the Irish branch of the Protestant Church of England has been disestablished, fell to Mr. Justice Sargant for decision. During the Napoleonic wars the King of Portugal, a Catholic, granted a pension for military services to Viscount Beresford, and two others after him. One of these, Alexander James Beresford, settled the pension for the benefit of the Irish Protestant Church, and the origi-

nal trust provided that all new trustees should be appointed by the “Lord Primate of All Ireland.” Mr. J ustice Sargant was called upon to say who this gentleman is, and of course there was no difficulty in deciding that Alexander James Beresford’s intention had reference to the Protestant Archbishop of Armagh. Needless to state that none the less the “Lord Primate of Ireland” is a title to which the Protestant Archbishop of Armagh has no right.

Forgetting that it is to the Catholic Church that the people of the Philippines owe all the civilisation and culture which they possess, and that it was due to her wise and salutary marriage laws, that the women of the islands have been emancipated from the thraldom in which they were formerly held, Manuel Quezon made a fierce onslaught some time ago in the Senate of the Philippines on all those who opposed the iniquitous divorce bill which he and his supporters were endeavor ing to fasten upon their fellow-citizens. He bitterly assailed both the Bishops and the Jesuits who had dared to protest against the measure and raised the old cry, which has done such yeoman service for the enemies of the faith, that they were meddling in politics and trying to dictate the policy of the Government. he Manila Daily Bulletin gives the speech in full. It does not afford a single valid argument for the passage of the measure, and relies evidently for the impression it seems to have made upon the Senate, on its virulence and its hollow rhetoric. Manuel Quezon is proving himself an unpatriotic and dangerous demagogue. He is working for a measure which, as Senator Capistrano told the Senate, is not wanted by the majority of the Philippine people, and which, if passed, will sap the very foundations of society and of the home. The fearless Catholic paper, Libertas, made a splendid fight for the rejection of the bill and unmasked the sophistries and illogical arguments of Quezon and his party. There is a lesson In all this. American Catholics should take a deeper interest in the welfare of their Catholic brethren in the Philippines. They cannot in honor stand by and see them robbed of the faith, nor rest indifferent to the deadly peril which threatens the peace and the happiness and purity of their homes. A divorce law foisted upon the Filipinos is the worst of slaveries.