THE CATHOLIC WORLD

New Zealand Tablet, 18 September 1919, Page 33

THE CATHOLIC WORLD

3 am S si %! GENERAL. v 1 ‘i S 1 V The Munich papers r announce that Prince George of Bavaria, the eldest son of Field-Marshal Prince Leopold, and the nephew of the Emperor Francis Joseph, has entered the Jesuit Novitiate at Innsbruck. , Upon his arrival recently in the Republic of Salvador, the Papal Internuncio, Mgr. Marenco, was waited upon by more -than 100 automobiles, where not only the elite of the city, but also the official element, gave him the most enthusiastic "welcome. At the head of the procession was seen the Most Rev. Archbishop Perez, accompanied by the President of the Republic, Don George Malandez, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and high dignitaries of the Church and the Government. The Internuncio was deeply moved by this spontaneous and filial manifestation of love towards the Supreme Pontiff, whoso august person he represents. t In the vicariate of Bishop Favoau, Che Kiang, China, the. Catholicity of the Church is accented in the persons of Fathers Tisscrand, Ting, and O’Reilly; French, Chinese, and Irish all mixed up together, but all stamped in the same mould and doing the same work. The last-named originally bailed from Co. Cavan, and, after seeing service in England, went to China, where he speaks Chinese, it is said, with a delightful cadence. He hears confessions and preaches in Chinese, and, while not as eloquent as in his ,native tongue, manages to get his message across with fine ; i results. Other gossoons will soon join him. and still others are to form an Irish vicariate in an adjoining .province. The annual report of the American branch of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, which appears in the June Annals, shows that its receipts in 1918 passed the 1 million-dollar mark. We may add that it is the first .time also that these figures have been reached by any single country in the history of the Propagation of the Faith since its foundation in 1822. The nearest approach to the million mark was made in 1881 by the Catholics of France, who contributed 8929,000 to the cause. Large as it is, however, it is far from sufficient to meet the demands from all parts of the world. War has worked havoc in the missions and the period of reconstruction will be a long one, so much the more' that it will be years before the Catholics of Europe arc able to send men and money in large quantity. . Cardinal Bourne, Archbishop of "Westminster, has issued a. Pastoral Letter, which was read in all the churches of his diocese on a recent Sunday, appealing for gifts for the extension of the Church’s work in acquiring sites, building churches, and providing residences for priests in new districts. It is worthy of note that ecclesiastics in Rome expect the elevation of Mgr. Ccrretti to the. Sacred College at the next Consistory at which the Pope will create Cardinals. That will be next November or December. The Holy Father has appointed Cardinal Gasquet Protector of the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio, Texas. In July his Eminence, accompanied by the Very Rev. Philip Langdon, Procurator-General of tlio English Benedictines, visited England. A SUCCESSFUL DIPLOMAT. Mgr. Ccrretti, Archbishop of Corinth and Secretary of the Sacred Congregation for Ecclesiastical Affairs, is (says tho London Catholic Times of July 12) back again in Rome, and has been received by tho Holy Father, to whom ho has given an account of the great work he has done-in Paris at the Peace Conference. Of tho success of his mission there can be no doubt, and also of the gratitude of the Holy Father for tho good work done. However, there are always journals which try to minimise the diplomatic work of the Vatican’s representatives. Article 438 of the Treaty, of Peace with Germany provided that the property of German missions should pass to councils of administration “composed of persons belonging to the Christian religion,” without distinguishing in any way the different Christian confessions. _ There was therefore tho danger of Catholic missions getting into Protestant hands. Thanks to Mgr. Ccrretti, the Council of Four accepted .the modifications requested by tho Holy See and amended the article, inserting the clause that the property of the missions t shall be administered by councils composed of persons belonging to the religious confession of their respective missions. To make all clear, the Vatican intends publishing as soon as possible the official documents connected with the case. An article has just appeared in the

Giornale d’ltalia, a paper which, certainly, cannot be accused of Vatican tendencies,' containing nothing but tho greatest praise for Mgr. Ccrretti and his work at the Conference. ;. - , , ■ „ >• v> "■ - ■, FOR THE FREEDOM OF EDUCATION. ’ . ’ ' . Cardinal O’Connell, in a paper read at the St. Louis meeting of the Catholic Educational Association and printed in pamphlet form by the latter under the title “The Reasonable Limits of State Activity” (says the Fortnightly Iteview), protests against “the present tendency of the State to increase its powers and to absorb the individual in its paternalistic legislation,” especially by monopolising education. Against this “un-American tendency of the Government to enlarge the area of its activity at the expense of popular liberty,” lie emphasises the fundamental principles that constitute the rationale of civil society. The State, he says, came after, not before, tho family. It had its origin in the union of families seeking the protection of their rights and the promotion of their temporal well-being. The State, therefore, exists for the individual. Its purpose is to further the -common interests and the temporal prosperity of the community, and to protect the private rights of the citizens. - This is not only sound philosophy, it is likewise genuine Americanism. Nevertheless, we in America are drifting in tho direction of State absolutism. “Each year the volume of over-legis-lation is increasing; the sacred ness of human rights is ignored, and the State, according to the philosophy of the day, is regarded as an object of worship, the one supreme authority in society. This is the Czar ism- of Russia and the Prussianism of Germany reproduced, and as such we resist it because it is disastrous in its consequences and false to the spirit of American traditions.” FRENCH BISHOPS’ PASTORAL. The entire Hierarchy® of France, Cardinals, Archbishops, and Bishops, have issued a joint Pastoral which recalls to the French Catholics and to all the nations the essential principles that form tho basis of social order. This authoritative document lays down the duties of society towards God, Christ, the Church, the family, the reciprocal obligations of the State and citizens, of employers and employees, and deserves serious attention on the part of all who are studying the problem of reconstruction. Almost simultaneously with tho Bishops’ programme there appeared another plan for the reform of the Constitution of France. This Constitution, which was introduced in 1875, revised in the* Chamber in 1876 and in the Senate in 1879, according to the study made by M. Feron-Vrau, clamors for essential reform if it is to give France that peace, tranquillity, and justice, which is the universal demand of peoples throughout tho world. The Constitution of 1875 insisted on two general principles that God should be banished from public life, and that the Republic was eternal, not subject to change. La Croix, points out that order will not reign in public morals until order has been introduced into the functioning of the Constitution. For qjiany years the Government by its rejection of the source of all authority and justice, has turned authority into tyranny, and subjected the people to injustice and anarchy, with unjust laws, irritating regulations, and persecuting measures as the consequence. Like the Bishops, M. Feron-Vrau demands as a first principle that God should be-restored to a place of honor in the Republic, that the Government should bo made to realise its responsibilities and the governed be given serious guarantees against arbitrary authority. One of the principal reforms, ho maintains, should be. the restoration of the Presidency from its present phantom form to a place of real power, with real" executive prerogatives, together with the curtailment of the power of the Chamber, which in place of exercising a legitimate control, has gradually absorbed all the. functions of government. Other changes suggested by M. Feron-Vrau arc the introduction of the referendum, a more serious practice of the right of petition, and the institution of a Supreme! Court similar to that of the United. States.