THE CATHOLIC WORLD

New Zealand Tablet, 16 May 1918, Page 29

THE CATHOLIC WORLD

GENERAL. - A national organisation to be known as the Catholic Young Men’s Association is being formed. It is not to be a federation, but an independent body, having, for its objects the. promotion of the spiritual, moral, intellectual, material, and social welfare of young men. It will enlist the membership of existing societies, without, however, interfering with or curtailing their local or special activities. Temporary officers have been chosen, which include Rev. E. F. Garesche, S.J., editor of The Queen’s Work, and organiser of the Young Men s Sodality Union of the United States, who is Moderator, and Michael J. Slattery, of Philadelphia, representing the Catholic Young Men’s National Union, who is president.

The Right Rev. Mgr. Keatinge, Catholic Chaplain-in-Chief to the British Army, was on February 25 consecrated Bishop of Metellopolis by Cardinal De Lai. The ceremony took place in the chapel of the English College at Rome. Cardinal De Lai was received by a double row of British soldiers. Cardinal Gasquet, Sir Henry Howard, and Bishop Stanley were among those present. The attendance also included representatives of the English-speaking Colleges, the British Chaplain-in-Chief on the Italian Front, fifteen bandsmen of the British Guards at present in Rome, and many members of the British colony. The Rector of the English College gave a dinner in honor of Monsignor Keatinge.

The Apostolic Delegate is highly pleased with the reception given to him by the people of Melbourne. The progress of the Catholic Church in the Commonwealth, he says, is very remarkable. It was, to him, wonderful to learn that a country of only a million Catholics had done such great things in the construction of Cathedrals, churches, hospitals, and other institutions. St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne was practically finished, while St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New Yoi k was not; yet the City of New York contained more Catholics than the whole of Australia.

The new custodian of the Holy Land has been appointed by Benedict XV. whose choice has fallen on Father Ferdinand Diotavelli, of the Order of Franciscan Minors, who has already for some time been acting ex-officio in this capacity at Constantinople. The office of custodian has been vacant since May, 1915. Father Diotavelli is only 33, but has already attained to great eminence in the East by his linguistic and diplomatic abilities.

. A manuscript has been discovered at Santa Clara University, Cal., giving the account of the voyage of the Spanish ships La Princessa and La Favorita to Alaska in 1779. It appears from the story of the writer, Father R’obo, the chaplain of the fleet, that many of the sounds and bays and islands which now bear English names, such as Prince of Wales Island, Prince William Sound, etc., were given Catholic names years before they acquired their present titles. Middleton Island was called Carmel, for instance, and Prince William Sound after St. James. No one knows better the bankrupt state of Protestantism than the Protestant minister at the front; it faces him wherever he goes (writes ‘‘Brittas” in. the Glasgow Observer). When the Churches are beiim discussed (as they so often are) by the men there, they generally come under very hard criticism, and his work is retarded because he is looked on as belonging to a Church which has no authority. A book has just been published, entitled As Tommy Sees Us. The writer, a Protestant chaplain, has evidently come in close contact with many men in our forces in France, and candidly lets his congregation (to whom the book is dedicated) know their opinions. From it we quote the following: “On the whole the average male Britisher to-day has not much respect for the Church. He does not like or admire the Church. He does not belong to it and does not want to. It is not among

the national: institutions that stir his pride. • H© does not take this : attitude defiantly,.knowing it to be wrong, and yet choosing it. He regards the Church as a negligible quantity. He neither fears nor loves it. It has for him no voice of authority. He has never been impressed by its corporate, acts, and its life in detail seems to him petty and dull. The men he most respects are not in it, and a great many whom he despises are. On his virile nature it makes no impressive appeal. ’ Verily, the Catholic soldier has a tremendous opportunity and power these times, both in precept and example ! The site of the pagoda, in Japan, presented to St. Francis Xavier by a Japanese-prince more than three hundred and fifty years ago, has been discovered, and is now in the possession of Father Villion, a missionary.

RELIGIOUS ORDERS IN ENGLAND. There are at present about 1200 Catholic religious houses in Great Britain, including England, Scotland, and Wales. About 300 of these, according to the Catholic Monthly Letter, are conducted by societies of religious men and about 900 by the various Sisterhoods. The former range in importance “ from stately abbeys, with many acres of territory, to humble missions served in some cases by a single Benedictine or Franciscan priest.” Members of congregations keeping the Benedictine rule, we are told, are scattered in nearly a hundred places. Their stateliest house is probably the abbey and school at Downside, with 84 monks attached to the monastery and 1300 resident pupils. The monks at Erdington are members of the Bern on congregation, ‘‘who found a welcome and security in England when driven forth from Germany by the Falk laws.” Other important houses are those of the Cistercians, the Austin Canons, and the Carthusians. The Sussex Charterhouse of the latter was built to accommodate a far larger number of monks than was immediately available, in anticipation of the anti-cleircal laws, driving Carthusians to England from the Continent.

The two chief families of friars, the Franciscans, in their several divisions, and the Dominicans, are represented by more than 30 houses. The Dominicans have seven priories, and there are 24 Franciscan convents or missions served by Franciscans. There are upwards of 50 houses of Jesuits in England, of which the largest is the college at Stonyhurst, in Lancashire. This college has long been famous, among other things, for its observatory, and from time to time its astronomers have been entrusted with special work by the Government. There are many Catholic parishes served by the Society, especially in important industrial centres. A considerable literature has emanated from the religious houses, and monks and friars lecture upon the gieat questions of the day. At Oxford, in connection with the University, there are establishments of Benedictines, Franciscans, and Jesuits. “In these and other ways the religious Orders keep abreast of the conditions of the time.” In many cases Catholic conventual institutions are subsidised by the Government, or by local authorities, in connection with special works which they undertake, such as Poor Law and Reformatory schools, etc., where national interests are served and at the same time a Catholic atmosphere is maintained. Religious Brotherhoods who teach in elementary schools are paid by the State for their services as schoolmasters.