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New Zealand Tablet, 31 January 1918, Page 13

A N.Z. CATHOLIC CHAPLAIN'S LETTER. The following very interesting letter has been received from the Rev. Father Barra, S.M., now serving as a chaplain with the N.Z. Expeditionary Forces. He writes : The war- is still on, and though we have seen some fighting the last few months I am quite confident that when this letter reaches you we shall have sounded the deepest depths in the modern art of killing. One cannot imagine what a battlefield is like nowadays except one goes over it in the body. Imagination is unable to create a picture which adequately portrays the horrors and beauties of trench lifefor trench life has its deep shadows and also its glorious shafts of light. No pen can describe, no man can grasp, no angel comprehend what this war means. The great God alone- knows, and for a Christian the only consolation to derive from the experiences of war is that which springs from religion. Hideousness and unparalleled splendor meet every day in and behind the battle line. Civilisation stands over its own grave, and yet contemplates near the grave itself acts and thoughts which proclaim that Christian civilisation has not been vain. The traffic is enormous,, shells scream, bombs kill and smash. Pioneers rush up. A spade, two, three, .twenty, fifty men are there burying, repairing, keeping up the communication lines. The dead are at rest. Dust swallows up the hot blood. Pass on, boys, until the next. I have read with pride the firm stand the Catholic Federation has taken on the point of Conscription. Led by our noble Archbishop O'Shea, the N.Z. Federation has fought the rabble of the Orange lodges and will inflict on it final defeat. Our Archbishop is quiet, but touch any of the principles of our Faith, try to enslave the Church which God appointed him to watch over. Then you see him in his holy anger fight the good fight of all the good shepherds of souls. May the New Zealand Catholics realise the necessity to unite in order to protect themselves and their children in what they hold most 'dear. The man who refuses to join the Federation is a traitor, because he betrays those who labor and sacrifice themselves in his behalf. Our boys are as good and as. brave as any out here and they have a right to have their principles respected by all. ... When the' crowd,, that ; is howling and denouncing the Church in . New Zealand •' have spent a ,few months in the field, perhaps they will see with "broader •views and feel ashamed 3 of their narrow fanaticisms.

Fanatics we do not keep among us. They, do not come out, but they are ready to push . everybody else into it. % : lease • thank the gentlemen ' who work| in the interests of the Federation in the boys’ names and in mine for their splendid ? efforts. May God bless them. After the war .Christianity; must rule the hearts of men and justice must reign; | Federation stands for . pure Christianity and Justice*” : . \ V J