DIOCESE OF AUCKLAND

New Zealand Tablet, 11 July 1918, Page 19

DIOCESE OF AUCKLAND

(From our own correspondent.) July 5. The following changes among the clergy of this diocese are announced:—Father Murphy, who recently relinquished the position of chaplain to the Forces, takes charge of Otahuhu parish, Father Mansfield is appointed to llelensville, Father O'Malley takes charge of the new parish of Northcote and Takapuna, with residence at Takapuna, Father Hunt to Ponsonby, Father Kelly to Remuera, Father O'Connor to Te Aroha as assistant to Father Mclnnes, and Father Bleakley to the position of chaplain to the Forces. A Mission, to be conducted by Fathers McCarthy, S.M., and O'Leary, S.M., will be opened at the Sacred Heart parish, Ponsonby, commencing with a children's Mission on Tuesday next. The general Mission is to commence on the following Sunday and continue for a fortnight. The Catholic Women's Hostel bazaar was brought to a close on Saturday evening last, when there was a large attendance. The final contest in the tug-of-war event was decided, the winners being the City Park workers' team. At the conclusion of the contest Father Cahill, in a short speech, congratulated the winning team, and presented each member with a gold medal. lie also announced that the committee had decided to award a gold medal each to the Southdown team, who were runners up. Father Cahill, on behalf of the committee, thanked* all those who had worked to make the bazaar the success it proved. As a result the funds of the hostel will be put in a very satisfactroy position. Last evening a social was held by the Children of Mary of the Sacred Heart parish, Ponsonby, the occasion being the opening of the new wing to the parish hall. There was a large attendance, and an enjoyable evening was spent. The addition comprises a new and commodious supper room 50 feet by 18 feet, equipped with the necessary furnishings requisite for all social functions, and will prove useful to the parish hall, which can now cater for all the requirements of the parish. At the weekly meeting of the Children of Mary of St. Patrick's parish, held in the Convent Schoolroom on Wednesday evening last, a competition in "riddles" on local matters took place, and was conducive of much amusement. The winner secured two handsome prizes. On Sunday last the members of St. Patrick's Young Men's Club attended 7 o'clock Mass in a body for their quarterly Holy Communion. After Mass the members adjourned to the hall, where breakfast was provided. Appropriate short speeches were given by Father Curley, Messrs. G. Rice, A. Page, and P. Duffin, wherein reference was made to the continued progress of the club and the good it would accomplish in the parish. A vote of thanks to the ladies and the singing of "God Save Ireland" brought the function to a close. __

The diocesan treasurer of the Catholic Federation (Mr. F. G. J. Temm) has forwarded this week to the Dominion treasurer another handsome donation of £3OO 19s to the Catholic Field Service Fund from the Auckland diocese. In a letter received this week from Mr. Pat. Sheehan, the well-known and popular Marist Brothers' footballer, who is at present in Hornchurch Camp, England, he refers to how the New Zealand boys spent Anzac Day in London this year, and inter alia to the Field Service Fund he says: "We colonials spent Anzac Day here in great style. 'The camp was closed for the day, and all the Catholics had a great day out. We journeyed to London and heard Mass at Westminster Cathedral, had a dinner at the Catholic Club, attended a matinee in the afternoon, had tea, and in the evening attended a concertand all this for nothing. Our friends of other denominations had to pay for their meals in London, and were dismissed before dinner, while the Catholic boys were royally entertained by our people. There was some biting afterwards, 1 can tell you. Our enjoyment was provided from the Field Service Fund, moneys sent over by the Catholic Federation in N.Z. If you have any spare coppers give them to the Federation for the soldiers. The ceremony at Westminster will live for ever in my memory. The church was crowded with Australian ami New Zealand soldiers, and it is a massive place, holding some thousands. When they sang the very building seemed to shake. It was great singing the old hymns we learned at home so far away. " Father Richards from N.Z., attended by an Australian and one of our boys in uniform as altar boys, celebrated Mass, and an Australian chaplain preached. Some hundreds of girls from the various societies assisted in the singing/ we didn't really require their assistance. It was very touching at the close. Four Australian trumpeters blew the "Last Post," and as the strains of the mighty organ were dying away many a boy from our parts felt a lump in his throat before they had finished. It was very sad, and I only wish, as'the preacher said, that when next Anzac Day comes round we will all be in our beautiful homes in the far off southern seas." The Marist Brothers' Old Boys' senior football team had to abandon their match against Ponsonby last Saturday owing to the heavy rain rendering Eden Park ground unfit for play. The second team met and defeated University, after a close and interesting game, by 6 points to 3. Johnston scored for Marists, and Campbell kicked a goal. Marists' thirds had a hard and fast game against Grammar School Old Boys. The first half ended with no score, and with about five minutes to go the Marist team crossed the line. A try by Roads won the match by 3 points to nil. The Marist team played with 12 men only, and it was a big handicap. Watson (five-eight), Clark (half), and Tubberty (three-quarter) played well for the backs, while Greig, .Roads, and Clift were the pick of the forwards. The fourth grade team met Ponsonby, and were beaten after a fast and interesting game by 11 points to nil.

ST. BENEDICT'S CONVENT: NEW WING CEREMONY. The laying of the foundation stone of a wing to St Benedict's Convent by the Right Rev. Dr Cleary in memory of the late Sister Raymond, who opened the convent some 20 years ago, took place on Sunday afternoon last. The grounds of the convent were occupied by an enthusiastic throng. Monsignor Gillan, of St. Benedict's, traced the development • of the institution—the increase in scholars from 220 at the outset to 420 to-day, and the extra accommodation which had been provided at intervals since the opening Very Rev. Chancellor Holbrook paid a tribute to the great work that was being done by the nuns, and said that Catholics owed them a great deal for their sacrifice. After referring to the expenditure of money, organisation and self-sacrifice in connection with' tho Catholic school system, Bishop Cleary said:— are

doing a great national work. Our schools are not, strictly speaking, private schools, inasmuch as they are doing State work—following the State programme of secular instruction under State inspection, with teachers holding State certificates, or State "University degrees. We are annually saving the State great sums of money, compared with which the small railway concessions granted to some of our parents (as to those of other denominations similarly circumstanced) are simply negligible. Our schools were long a part of the State-aided system. We did not go out of it. We were driven out of —not on any educational ground, but practically on what amounted to a religious test. We were driven out of it because we believe in the inseparable union of religion with education, because we cannot in conscience' believe in the new sectarian dogmas that underlie the purely secular system. One of these dogmas is that religion has no necessary or rightful or useful place in education. Another dogma is that a political majority has the moral right to banish religion from the place which it has occupied from immemorial ages in "the schools." The speaker also described the Catholic school system as one of the most impressive facts in the religious history of our time, and as a monumental assertion of tho everlasting principles of true child training. Dr. Maskell and Mr. E. Casey also spoke, the latter returning thanks to all concerned on behalf of the Sisters. A collection taken up during an interval realised .£252, which, together with promises of further sums, makes an amount of £3OO.