DIOCESE OF AUCKLAND

New Zealand Tablet, 4 July 1918, Page 19

DIOCESE OF AUCKLAND

(From our own correspondent.) June 28. His Lordship the Bishop is to officiate at the ceremony of laying the foundation stone of. the new wing of St. Benedict's Convent, on Sunday afternoon next at 3 p.m. The new wing will be an attractive addition to the convent, and is being erected as a memorial to the late lamented Sister Raymond, Superior of St. Joseph's Order in New Zealand. The Rev. Father Bleakley, who has been appointed chaplain to a hospital ship, leaves here on Tuesday evening next. The bazaar and sale of work organised for the purpose of liquidating the expenses incurred in connection with the transfer of the Catholic Women's Hostel to new premises last year, and the consequent

refurnishing, was officially - opened in . St.; Benedict's Hall by the Right Rev. Dr. H. W. Cleary, Bishop of Auckland, on Monday evening last. 'Mr. F. ; G. J. Temm (chairman of the board of management) presided, and welcomed- on behalf of the committee, the large number present, and apologised on behalf of the Mayoress (Mrs. Gunson), for her unavoidable absence from the opening ceremony. His Lordship the Bishop expressed. his pleasure at being present to assist in the function* promoted in the interests of the Catholic Women's -Hostel, which for the past two years had been doing such an excellent beneficent work in this city. The hostel, he said, met a great need locally, in the way of providing comfortable accommodation for young women and girls who by circumstances. were compelled to live away from home, and where they could rely on being in a safe environment. It also catered for young immigrant girls arriving as strangers to these shores. The Right Rev. Mgr. Gillan, V.G., and the Very Rev. Chancellor Holbrook followed with short addresses, and the Bishop declared the bazaar open. The stalls are as follows:—Sweets, Mrs. L. Kelly and Misses Dunne and Warne; fancy goods Miss Lorrigan, assisted by Mesdames o'Shea,°Clark, the Children of Mary, and the boarders at the hostel; flowers Mrs. Hegman, assisted by Mesdames Wainwright and Sommerville ; provisions—Miss Mulvaney, assisted by Mrs. Pilling and Misses O'Keefe, Kay, Cremen, and O'Sullivan: fancy needlework—Mrs. r. McElwain, assisted by Mesdames Slade, Walsh, and the Misses Mulligan, McLoughlin, McConnell, and M. Higgins : refreshments—Mrs. Hanfling, assisted by Mrs. Gourley. A side show was successfully conducted by Mr. J. O'Sullivan. The musical portion of the programme was conducted by the Misses Beresford, items being rendered by their talented pupils. The principal interest during the week was centred round the tug-of-war contest, no less than 16 teams being entered. Pulls take place each evening, and the final pull of the competition takes place to-morrow evening, when the bazaar will be brought to a close. The hon. secretary (Mrs. L. M. Cullen) deserves to be congratulated on the success of her unremitting endeavors to make the function a complete success. During the week the following correspondence appeared in the Jnr Zealand Herald re the matter in which Howard Elliott was taken to task by his Lordship the Bishop, as reported in last week's notes: Sir, —I have to thank Dr. Cleary for drawing my attention through the Herald to a slight inaccuracy in my statement at the Town Hall last Tuesday evening. The statement to which I referred, that "Protestantism must be put down," was made in the Ponsonby Roman Catholic Church at the evening service about six or seven weeks ago, not on Sunday week as 1 first understood. In all other respects the statement I made is correct. The persons who heard the statement and reported it do not know the name of the priest, not being regular members of the congregation. Howard Elliott. . _„. Sib,—-In the Herald of June 25 the Rev. Howard Elliott makes a statement to the following effect—ln the Ponsonby Roman Catholic Church, at a Sunday evening service "about six or seven weeks ago," a priest said: "Protestantism must be put down."' As the bishop's administrator of the Ponsonby parish I have been present throughout every evening service and sermon for nine Sundays past. I limit my statement to nine Sundays simply because that gives the generous margin of about 50 per cent, in favor of the rev. lecturer's new statement as to date. The evening preachers during that period were the followingVery Rev. Chancellor Holbrook, four Sundays ago: -Kev J., Mansfield, one, three, five, seven, and nine Sundays ago; Rev. J. J. Bradley, six Sundays ago: and the present writer, eight and two Sundays ago. The independent testimony of all the other preachers is before me in writing. The absolutely deny having used the expression attributed to them above, or any expressions equivalent to it,,or having the remotest re-

semblance to it.- So do I. These written declarations are open to inspection. They are 1 borne out by a number of intelligent lay witnesses in regular attendance at all the evening services metioned. On .one occasion, and only one, during my three years' administration of the Catholic Church at Ponsonby was reference made to organisations of other faiths. That was about four months ago. ■ On that occasion the present writer referred to the campaign against the Catholic Church and Catholic women. I exhorted my hearers not to entertain bitter feelings in their hearts against the. Rev. Howard • Elliott and others, who were doing an unintended service to our faith by recalling to its practice many who had hitherto been careless. This, I added, was a striking example of how God works good out of evil. J. V. Carran, Administrator. In the second round of the Senior Grade of the Auckland Secondary Schools' Football Championship Sacred Heart College met Auckland Grammar School A. The Grammar team was very much heavier than the College fifteen. The game was played on Eden Park, which was wet ond slippery as a result of the previous heavy rain. Mr. Coltman was referee. In the first half the College, pursuing the "up-and-under" policy, had all the better of the game, and at half-time led by 6 to nil, tries having been scored by L. Rae and J. McAuliffe. The second half ' proved a hard tussle. Grammar scored and converted, but shortly afterwards T. Dyer scored the third try for College. Again the kick for goal went wide. The Grammar were given a penalty kick in front of the goal, but the Sacred Heart College was still in the lead by 9to 8, with ten minutes to go. However the weight of the heavy Grammar forwards began to wear down the College oppositiqn, and Grammar scored their second try, which was converted. The game ended in favor of Grammar by 13 to 9. The Auckland Star reports: The S.H.C. team gave a splendid exhibition of Rugby, despite the adverse conditions of wet ground and ball. Inaccurate goal kicking lost them the game, for they scored three tries to Grammar's two. J. McAuliffe was the pick of the backs, and W. Fleming and D. Hart of the forwards. Tn the Second Grade S.H.C. defeated Grammar by 17 points to 3. In the Third Grade S.H.C. won against Grammar by 12 points to nil, while in the Fourth Grade S.H.C. and Grammar played a draw—s all. The next competition match is against King's College on August 3.