PEOPLE WE HEAR ABOUT

New Zealand Tablet, 4 March 1920, Page 23

PEOPLE WE HEAR ABOUT

Robert E. Ford, 54 years, old, the eldest son of the late Patrick Ford, the founder of the Irish World, died December 31 of apoplexy. He was a member of the executive board of the Friends of Irish Freedom. fhe death of Cardinal Cos y Macho, Archbishop of Valladolid, is announced in a ; telegram from Madrid. He was born at Teran, diocese of Santander, in 1838, and studied at Salamanca. He was appointed, in 1886, Bishop of Mandoffido, and in 1889 was nominated to an Episcopal See in Cuba. This he left in 1892 to succeed Cardinal Sancha y Hervas in the See of Madrid. In 1902 he was appointed to Valladolid. Ho was created a Cardinal in 1911. Mr. Clement Shorter, editor of the London Sphere, writing to the London Times, states:—“l have always maintained- and I write with some personal knowledge —that Mr.de Valera and Mr. Arthur Griffith have the most constructive brains and the clearest gifts of statesmanship of any of the politicians who have intervened on behalf of Ireland for a century. Neither believes in force as a remedy. It- is time that Sinn Fein as a bogey was abandoned by our newspapers, and Sinn Fein as an accepted political creed was acknowledged.” Just over seven years ago Bishop Shiel was consecrated in St. Patricks’ College, Maynooth, by the Most Rev. Dr. Mannix, as Bishop of Rockhampton. When the vacancy occurred in the Rockhampton episcopate, all eyes turned to Dr. Shiel, who was at the other end of the world, down in a Dublin hospital with typhoid. His appointment sent a happy thrill through every Catholic heart in every parish in the extensive diocese of Rockhampton; his arrival was hailed with great delight, and his enthronement at St. Joseph’s Cathedral was a most auspicious occasion. Now, after a very fruitful episcopate, Bishop Shiel leaves on his first visit to Rome as Bishop. It is, of course, his Lordship’s intention to also visit Ireland, the land of his birth, and, particularly, to meet his dear old mother, who is naturally arid very deservedly so overwhelmingly proud of her noble son. Official announcement has just been received of the appointment of the Rev. Father Alban Goodier, S.J., to the See of Bombay, in succession to the late Archbishop Jurgens, who died in September, 1916. Born in 1869, the new prelate was educated at Stonyhurst College. Ho entered the Society of Jesus, and after passing through the usual course of studies he was ordained in September, 1903. For some years he was engaged as professor at Manresa House, Roehampton, during which period he became well known to the general public as writer, preacher and director of souls. On the outbreak of Avar in 1914, Father Goodier was sent, at only a few days’ notice, to take charge of St. ‘Xavier’s College, Bombay, which for many years had been conducted by Jesuits of the German Province. Owing to the impending repatriation of these Fathers, Father Goodier found himself with a sadly depleted staff. But in spite of this, and in spite of the' difficulties arising from war conditions and from his want of experience of the country, he succeeded not only in keeping up the high reputation of the college, but-also to raising it to a level of efficiency never before reached in its history. The University of Bombay was not slow in recognising the outstanding merits of the new Principal,.both as lecturer and organiser. He was made successively a Fellow, a member of the Syndicate, an M.A. Examiner in English, and sole director of the Examination of the Joint Board. He was chosen by the then Governor, Lord Willingdon, as one of the three representatives of Government on this Joint Board, which virtually controls the High School education of the Presidency. Later he was appointed a Justice of the Peace of Bombay, being the first Catholic priest to hold this position. During his tenure of office as Principal, Father Goodier threw himself with ’ characteristic energy and public spirit- into various movements towards intellectual and social progress, such as the Higher Education of Women, the Indian Catholic Medical Mission, the Spread of Catholic Literature, etc. As a speaker and as a writer he possesses a remarkable power of clear and fluent exposition which greatly enhances his intellectual gifts and scholarly attainments. He founded “The Catholic Library,” about 1913; for some time past he has been editor of the Bombay Messenger of the' Sacred Heart he is a frequent contributor to Catholic magazines and reviews and Ins devotional books— The Meaning of Life, The Price of Peace, A Crown of Sorrorw, The School of Love, and others —have obtained a deservedly wide popularity.