ARCHBISHOP MANNIX ON CATHOLICS AND THE WAR

New Zealand Tablet, 14 November 1918, Page 17

ARCHBISHOP MANNIX ON CATHOLICS AND THE WAR

An impressive ceremony was carried out at Our Lady Help of Christians’ Church, North Fitzroy, on Sunday, afternoon, October 20 (says the Tribune), when the new statue of Our Lady, which has been placed at the summit of the tower of the church at an altitude of a hundred feet, was blessed and crowned by bis Grace the Archbishop of Melbourne, Most Rev. Dr. Manuix. Fully 10,000 people assembled to witness the ceremony, which was unique in Australia. His Grace the Archbishop, who was. enthusiastically received, said the function at which they were assisting would probably be the cause of further, attacks upon him and the Catholic people. As Father King had said, there was a large body of people in this community who were greatly afraid that devotion to the Mother of God was spreading unduly amongst Die Australian people. If the daily papers differed they at least were in agreement in their hostility to him and the Catholic faith. His Grace said that the Argus, in its comments about him, had gone back to some reference he had made about the trade war, which he had never yet withdrawn, and for a very good reason. The Argus had put into his mouth what he had never said. It said he called the war “a trade war and nothing else.” The words “nothing else”

had pointed out that the Australians went to fight Tor the little nations and the defence of the Empire, hut not for more trade. Malicious lies had been/ circulated throughout" Australia in regard to Catholic enlistments', and many people had come to believe that Catholics were shirkers and “cold-footers.” He was afraid many had been turned out of employment' because the idea prevailed in some quarters that Catholics had nob done their duty. Catholics' in the Commonwealth were just a little over 20 per cent, of the population, and they had sent over 19 per cent, of their manhood to the Front, or only a few points short of the proper quota. He challenged the papers to publish the figures, and to get an official contradiction from the military, authorities if they could. He was not claiming any credit for it; he had never asked anybody to go or stay. They had sent 19 per cent, of the men into the trenches, but they had only been allotted nine per cent, of the officers’ positions. If they had been treated better in this respect, probably the Catholics would have exceeded their quota in the matter of enlistments. One very noisy section of the community fell very short

cause their idea evidently was that Catholics should not,merely go to the Front in their proper proportions, but should take; the place of other's as well. An eminent Anglican ecclesiastic recently criticised Catholic devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the daily papers gave prominence to his remarks. A day latersomebody sent in a short and courteous letter to the editor of the Argus aijd the editor- of the Age, giving the. words of another Anglican Archbishop, who said that the dread of Rome had made Anglicans suicidal in their cold neglect of the Mother of God. Neither of the papers published the letter on the ground that it might create controversy. When it was a question of Catholics getting fair play the daily papers closed down on them. The papers complained of a shortage of paper, but he thought it was a shortage of fair play with them. Devotion to the Blessed Virgin came from the very beginning of the Church, and was a common practice amongst the people in the early days. His Grace concluded by quoting some beautiful words from Cardinal Newman regarding devotion to Our Lady.