PALESTINE

New Zealand Tablet, 21 August 1919, Page 21

PALESTINE

The Commissary of the Holy Land begs to acknowledge with thanks the following Good Friday offerings : His Grace the Archbishop of Sydney, LI3O ; his Grace the Archbishop of Perth, £SO; his Grace the Archbishop of Adelaide, £6O; his Lordship the Bishop of Maitland, £25 12s 6d; his Lordship the Bishop of Armidale, £23_ 19s 3d; his Lordship the Bishop of Lismore, £2B 11s 2d ; his Lordship the Bishop of Auckland, £IOO 10s; his Lordship the Bishop of Sale, £SO; his Lordship the Bishop of Sandhurst, £lO ss; Right Rev. Mgr. Beechinor, £7 4s . sd; Very Rev. P. J. Doran, £7 3s lid. He desires also to draw special attention to the trials of the faithful in the East. According to recent accounts from Jerusalem : the condition of the Christians in Palestine and the neighboring countries is lamentable in the extreme. Several months ago, the Patriarch of Jerusalem was compelled to repbrt to his Holiness the Pope how anti-Catholic sects were flocking to the East ,ostensibly with the view of alleviating the distress that is prevailing in Palestine, Syria, and Armenia, but purposely, and effectively in order to pervert the faith of the Catholics there by bribes of money, clothing, and food. Having realised the magnitude of the impending peril the Holy Father has issued a most urgent letter of appeal to the bishops of the entire Church begging them to come to his aid in frustrating the designs of these enemies of the faith. Nor is this appeal confined to the hierarchy, through the bishops, his Holiness calls upon every child of Holy Church to make this cause their own, and to labor fox - its success. “We cannot tolerate, writes the Holy Father, ‘‘that souls should perish there, where Jesus Christ purchased their salvation at the price of His Precious Blood. ” Did these solemn words reach the entire body of the faithful, it is easy to imagine the magic influence they would exercise with regard •to forthcoming offerings: but, unhappily, it is to bo presumed that for tens of thousands in every land they will be as inoperative as if they were never written. It then becomes all the more imperative for .those who realise what is actually taking place in these sacred and historic lands, and who learn the anxiety of the Sovereign Pontiff, to spread the news as widely as possible, and to encourage their friends to contribute to the sacred cause. The Catholics of Australia and New Zealand will find all information in the pages of the current issue of the Crusader- periodical specially devoted to the interests of the Holy Land—and obtainable at the principal Catholic bookshops in the Com wealth and the Dominion. Besides the Motif Propria Letter of his Holiness, and the Apostolic Delegate’s letter to the Commissary of the Holy Land regarding it, the L rusader contains several interesting articles on points that are uppermost at the present moment in thinking minds concerning the East. “The Holy Places —their Destiny, by the editor of the Freeman’s Journal; “The Near East,” by Mr. P. S. Cleary: “The Holy Laud—an Impress : by J.K.—these and other*contributions of a devotional character make the booklet both instructive and edifying reading. It is the desire of his Excellency the Apostolic Delegate that the offerings of the laity should bo remitted to— The Commissariat of the Holy Land, The Friary, Waverley, Sydney, N.S.W.