THE REDEMPTORISTS IN AUSTRALIA

New Zealand Tablet, 29 April 1920, Page 41

THE REDEMPTORISTS IN AUSTRALIA

■■ .-_.;■■ THE CENTENARY OF ST. CLEMENT. : i? Just one hundred years ago there passed away a great Austrian Redemptorist priest, Clement Hofbauer, whose holiness *of -,, life r and, fruitful labors for the Church /have merited for him to be raised to 'the honor of the Catholic altars. The centenary celebrations carried out V- recently at St. , Clement's ; College/ ; Galong, \'"' r N. SIW., >< give '.,. us lan opportunity of : congratulating ' his fellow-Redemptorists in Australia, and of recalling their arduous labors *in this country- amidst circumstances much akin to those which St. Clement worked in Austria and in Poland (says the Catholic Press editorially). '■"'- ■ : '"' """■" ." :■ ■■~:\ r r~"ryr~^ : ;': ■ In the latter eighteenth ■; and early nineteenth centuries a wave of anti-religious madness spread over;a-"great part; of Europe. Governments v everywhere strove ito; stem the new current of democratic ideas issuing; from the welter of the French Revolution, and sought by the most arbitrary means to grasp into their hands all : elements of power and influence. It is clear that an institution like the' Catholic Church would incur the hatred of such despots:". ..By its influence with the j peoples of the Continent, its love for justice and fair dealing, its instinct for democratic ideals, its insistent "claim to ; independence within, the scope of its own proper jurisdiction, its: broadness of vision," which transcended the mere nationalism of the arbitrary . States set up by . the Congress ,of Yiejona, the Catholic "Church was marked out as a sign; to be Contradicted, an institution to be robbed and gagged and persecuted. During the "nineteenth century, especially, the. history of the Church is the record of a struggle against this nationalism gone mad, with its concomitant anti-religious campaign. Governments thought to—crush out • Catholicism land set up national Churches, which would be subservient to their whims; they sought to mould the mind of the youthful generation to this tune; they would regulate details of public worship and religious or-r ganisation; they even sought to enter the .seminaries, and so mould the minds of the young priests being trained therein. The fight for Catholic Emancipation in Ireland) and the struggle about the Veto, were but parts of the same movement all over Europe—a grim fight 'in which the Church sought to save her very existence, at any cost, as a Catholic institution.. It is the peculiar merit of St. Clement Hofbauer that he was a foremost champion in this battle for Catholicism. By his preaching throughout Poland and Austria, by his fight for the Christian education of youth, by his priestly ministrations, - he! sought to save young and old from this fanaticism emam ating from ruling circles. He would not have the Church an adjunct of. the State; nor would he brook a theology built on harrow nationalism. He stood for the old ways marked out by the Saviour, and his centenary sees the triumph of the cause he labored for so ardently.'..

In the long years of their labors in Australia the Redemptorist Fathers have trod the same path of duty as did St. Clement in his day. As he sought to sanctify himself, so their lives, simple and laborious, have been the joy of; this young land. In their missions throughout the country -they, have ; never -truckled:; to the giddy spirit of the age. :' They;; have sought out the wandering'; ones of the Catholic fold, - and they have told them of the plentiful redemption which- may be had for the asking. They have preached of sin : and'of penance to an age which; recognises neither. They have kept to the old doctrine and the old ways in a time when fashion has swayed men's minds equally with their clothes. The fruit they' have reaped has been commensurate with their solidity /.and virility of character. In their ranks they have already several Australian-bom priests who are laboring here and in the Philippines; in Ireland there are many Australian Redemptorists preparing for ordination ; and under the patronage ; of ,St: Clement .there, are 49 students at Galong College." preparing for their novitiate at Ballarat, whence they'will go to Ireland for the completion of their priestly studies. ;. The universal respect in which the Fathers are held throughout Australia tells of the force of holy iivirigi For the upbuilding of a strong national character we can do with: many: more such men. > ' -- "?.">'. %