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New Zealand Tablet, 3 October 1918, Page 21

erected : near Westminster Cathedral . for the ; use ..of American troops, and particularly those employed at American headquarers in London. As an item of. news the incident has but a passing interest. But it has served a very happy occasion- for the secular press to say something about the Knights of Columbus, as well as about the Catholic strength of American enlisted forces, and to emphasise the fact that the order has carried out much good work on behalf of American troops. It states further that 40 per. cent, of the United States army and's2 per cent, of ..the United States navy are Catholics. Hitherto this information has been limited to the readers of Catholic newspapers, who are a minority, and an announcement of this kind will do a very great service by conveying to the general public the superior organisation of Catholics in America and their preponderating representation in the enlisted forces of their country. Coming at such a time, when not only London but the whole of Great Britain has fresh in its mind the infusion of a new ideal of brotherhood and fraternity arising from the unprecedented enthusiasm of the celebration of the Fourth of July, this knowledge of the overwhelming Catholicism of the American forces will cause the average Briton to pause when next arises another attempt at a No-Popery programme. It will be a hard matter for even the most, determined antiCatholic to breathe his sentiments in the face ..of .such a convincing statement of Catholic loyalty to the Allied cause, ’ • A PROTESTANT AT MASS. It. has been frequently said that the war is bringing the fighting men to a more serious consideration of religious questions. Here is an example (says the Literary Digest). In a letter which is printed in the Wichita Eagle , Lieut. Kenneth Cassidy, on active service in France and wearing the War Cross for distinguished service, writes to his parents (the Rev. and Mrs. George W. Cassidy) of a picturesque service in a shell-torn French town “The service was held on the steps in front of what was at one time a church. Now there is nothing left of it but a part of the tower and a part of the four walls, also a few beams of the roof. The church, and the whole town for that matter, has been pretty heavily shelled, not over half the buildings being fit for occupancy. Anyhow, you have the picture of me at Mass at 6 a.in. on Easter Sunday, standing silent through a simple but impressive service with a thousand other Irishmen, heads bared, faces earnest. Probably in that assembly there were men of as many faiths as I could count on the fingers of four hands. Yet there they were, joined in a mutual brotherhood, all gathered with the single purpose of worship ; and as we stood there in the early dawn, listening to the few words ■•spoken by a man loved as few men are loved, a man who fills the very atmosphere that surrounds him with holinessfor such a man is Father Duffy,—l felt a stronger kinship for my brothers there than I have ever felt befoi-e. The picturesque landscape ; the quaint old town : the battle-scarred ruins ; the fresh, balmy spring air and the quiet, peaceful multitude and I wondered why it was that men must be torn with such violent passions, why there must be war and ruin, rapine and bloodshed, and all the untold horrors being enacted here every day.'’ A N.Z. SOLDIER LETTER FROM FRANCE. Private Joseph Rennell, of the Hawke’s Bay Company, writing to his mother in Christchurch, says: “The piety of the French people is such that. the hardest of men would be impressed,. and that the French women are most industrious and persevering. Throughout the long warm days then being experienced, those worthy people were to be seen working out in the field from early morning till late in the evening, and at all times they appeared to be merry and bright. The New Zealand boys come s in for a good reception from the French people,