Current Topics

New Zealand Tablet, Volume L, Issue 16, 26 April 1923, Page 18

Current Topics

Norway p ■',> The Catholic News Service tells us that while the Church is not absolutely free in Norway, many beneficial changes have taken place and the future looks bright. , The weakest spot is the entire lack of native ‘ priests and nuns. There is a vigorous parish life now, | and and Catholic organisations are flourishing. Two I religious congregations of men recently established themselves in Norway: the French Dominicans at Christiana, and the Picpus Fathers at Fredrikshalf. Their arrival was preceded by the coming of the Sisters of St. Joseph from Chambery, the Grey Sisters of St Elizabeth from Breslau, and the Sisters of St. Francis Xavier whose novitiate is at Bergen., The law against the Jesuits has, on the advice of leading Lutherans, been regarded as a dead letter pending its abrogation. Italy Mussolini goes forward all the time. Having | proved his strength in dealing with Communism he proceeded to tackle a still more dangerous enemy of the welfare of the State. Convinced that Masonic activities and his ideals are contradictory of each other he proposed and had passed by the Fascista Grand Council a resolution calling on Italian Freemasons who are members of the Fascist! either to give up their membership or abandon Masonry. From America we' quote the text of the resolution and the following comment: Considering that late political events and certain resolutions passed by Italian Freemasons give reason to believe that the Freemasons are following a pro•gramme and are adopting methods which are in antagonism to those which absorb the entire activity of Fas cismo the Grand Council invites all Fascist! who are also Freemasons to choose to belong to the' National rascista party or to Freemasonry, because the Fascista can only recognise a discipline which is the Fascista [y scl P line > c f u onl .Y recognise one hierarchy which is the Fascista hierarchy; can onlv recognise one obedience ; which is absolute, devoted and daily obedience to the heads of the Fascismo.” The decision of the Council is expected to have profound effect on the national life in Italy. Almost immediately after the resolution was officially made vknown, four high officials of the Government, Signori Acerbo, Durian, Rossi, and Baldo, resigned from the Masonic lodges to which they belonged, And it is announced that many Deputies are to renounce their Masonic affiliations or give up their seats in Parliament. The action of the Fascista Grand Council is looked upon as a direct blow against the political activities of the Freemasons, who for years have considered themselves l a dominant power in the State and have given strenuous support to Italian political parties and Italian Cabinets, because of their Masonic affiliations. Commenting upon the Fascista decree, the Osservatore. Romano does not close its eyes to the difficulties it is bound to meet in its application. !?/. From long study of the question and judging from Italy s past experiences, the o**ervalore declares that Masonry, through the men whom it controls in the various parties, will baulk at nothing to retain its strength. The great majority of the Italian journals expressed its approval of the Fascista resolution and declare that it will put an end to- the long-standing control of the country’s politics bv outside influence. Vriting in the Qiw'.nnle. (VTinlia, Signore Farinacci, a member of the Chamber of Deputies, declares that the . Fascista order strikes a blow at the Masonic groups. The Scottish Rite lodges, however, pretend that the blow is not aimed at them, and have sent out a circular, in which it is urged that all Masons who are also Fascist!, should adhere loyally to the decree of the Fascista Grand Council.

Danger to the Church in Germany Cardinal Schulte, and five and a half million Catholics of the occupied territory, have sent out a message to the Catholics of the whole world calling attention to the dangers that threaten them. The document states that the seeds of hatred now being sown by the renewed conditions of war will make reconciliation in a Christian spirit impossible. German Catholicism has already suffered severely in the loss of the mission fields and in the separation of Catholic districts, and the danger now imminent threatens the ruin of the work so laboriously accomplished by the Church through centuries. Catholic hospitals, orphanages, and other institutions are in danger. The document goes on to say: At a time when vigorous action was being taken against the social evil German Catholics must stand by helpless and see a whole series of Catholic parishes forced to establish houses of ill fame at the cost of their own taxpayers, a condition of affairs which German women regard as an unheard-of outrage against Christian womanhood and the honor of German women. It must arouse loathing and disgust that the very first measures taken by the French forces on their invasion of the Ruhr, was directed towards the establishment of such houses, To this is added the indignity that a Catholic population whose Christianity dates back almost to the Early Church, must behold itself guarded by the bayonets of uncivilised, pagan and Mohammedan soldiers. The appeal next addresses itself to all men who stand for justice, peace, and reconciliation, calling their attention to the misery and starvation which now claim their victims throughout all Germany, but in a very particular way among the Catholics of the Rhenish provinces, in consequence of the occupation. These are the questions it asks; lias the world any concept of the starvation existing in numberless families Does it know how many children die of under-nourishment or premature maladies; how many mothers, exhausted and languishing, no longer can supply their children with nature’s food • how many aged men and women sink into the grave through sheer privation? Does the world know the anguish of so many ancient families, now gradually impoverished and forced to sell to foreign countries for a mere trifle their cherished possessions, that for a time they may still be supplied with at least the most elemental necessities of food and clothing? Is it known how German art and science, which surely accomplished much for human ' progress, are hopelessly declining because they have not even the most indispensable means for their continuance? The engulfing waves of the misery of an entire people rise ever higher and a storm that will be destructive of all things is menacing even now, a storm such as our unhappy country has not known since the Thirty-Years’ War. The catastrophe with which we are threatened means the beginning of the end of European civilisation. Would that even, at the last moment, God might avert this doom ! - We Catholics of the Rhineland who wish to adhere to peace and international reconciliation in the spirit of Christianity, who unconditionally accept the principles of justice and peace, lift up our voices to the eternal and almighty Judge of human destinies with the prayer of Benedict XV. : “Give Thou the rulers and people thoughts of peace, let the quarrels cease that now divide the nations, grant that men may again unite in love. . . and at length give the storm-tossed world once more rest and peace.” The 'Catholic leaders of Germany, especially the Catholic bishops, are in the most earnest and touching terms appealing to’the people to keep their souls free from the spirit of hatred. Religious Training Some time ago a non-Catholic magistrate told us that every day he sat on the bench convinced him more and more that the only hope of salvation for society in New Zealand was the establishment among all sects of schools like ours, in which religious training is '

regarded as an essential, nay, as the essential. What he told us in conversation, he and others like him have proclaimed publicly. This conviction is the result of their seeing juveniles steeped in crime of all sorts, and lost to all sens© of the dignity and nobility of purity of mind and body. In the United States, several judges have emphasised the fact that the banning of religion from the State schools is ruining the youth of the country and breeding a host of youthful criminals. The Catholic Church has always taken a firm stand in this matter, and the Catholic people have supported their bishops by making heroic sacrifices in order to maintain schools in which their children would be brained to love God and to fear offending Him. Experience has proved everywhere that the only real deterrent from crime and immorality is the fear and love of God. Even the French atheists have confessed that their secular schools have resulted in anarchy and vice, and that only religion can stem the torrent that threatens the race. Most Christian people here have the same conviction, but still they are contented to allow a group of noisy agitators to defy them and to plunge the country into moral ruin. It is a strikng commentory on all this to find the young Maori who was hanged last week attributing his downfall precisely to the fact that he was cut off in youth from religion and its influences; and thinking people, reading his confession, will agree that not he but those who made this a land of infidels ought to be in his place in the dock. Here is what he said before facing death; I am guilty of the crime for which I have been condemned. As I am about to pass into eternity I realise the awful nature of the crime of murder. I cannot explain the motive that prompted me to do the - awful deed. Some demon must have taken possession of me. No one else is guilty. I alone am to blame. All the accusations I made against an unknown person are untrue; also all I said about the treatment meted out to me by the detectives is likewise untrue. The only reparation I can make is first of all to make this confession of my guilt to the public. I accept mv execution as the only act of atonement I can make to God, whom I have outraged. I offer every step I take from my cell to the gallows as a further act of reparation for my crime. I place my hope of mercy and forgiveness in the sufferings and death of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Throughout my life my knowledge of religion was very little. I had not. the comfort and help which it gives. If I had been brought up differently, in the fear and the love of God I would have led a different life, and would not have, been in the position in which I find myself to-day. The knowledge of God and the practice of religion I feel sure are the only means to keep one from sin and crime. I publicly thank God for bringing me to a knowledge of His love and mercy, even in these last days of my life. Again I am heartily sorry, and deeply regret my awful crime, and’l ask the public not to think too harshly of me, but to l remember I am a Native with different ideas and dispositions from the pakeha, and to consider my surroundings and upbringing. In conclusion I throw myself into the arms of a merciful God, fully trusting in His pardon and forgiveness, through Jesus Christ. May God give me courage to meet my end with Christian resignation, and may He in His great love have mercy on my poor soul. Farewell. (Signed) John Tuhi. Prohibition Condemned The Temperance Council of the Christian Churches of England and* Wales launched a united temperance campaign at a meeting in the Mansion House, London, over which the Archbishop of Canterbury presided and at which Cardinal Bourne was present. This representative meeting of the greatest churchmen of Great Britain while advocating true reform set its face determinedly against Prohibition, which Cardinal Bourne described as “the very antithesis and contradiction of temperance,” just as Archbishop Redwood did here in his famous pastoral before the second last referendum. In view of the importance of the opinions expressed

and of their educative value, we give the full account ?! fh« remarks of the principal speakers as published in the Otago Daily Times : of tS T r per / n ™ ? OUlncil of the Christian Churches of England and Wales launched its national united campjugn at a meeting over which the Archbishop of ™ ir y Th eSl l e^, ; m the Mansion House on February H - The objects are: “To present the modern scientific indictment of alcoholic beverages and its moral inplications ; to promote definite organisation for temperance work in every church and congregation, and to 0 tain local support for the council’s immediate legislative programme no sale of intoxicating liquor to land e a U r!d lV'f n ye T S ° age; loCal °P tion f ° r "g-------hmmr nn ;n ° Sal \ or su PP¥ng of intoxicating liquor on Sundays; and the substituting of the supply tt h n ]us?!ct to the grant ° f an —^ J he , Archbishop made it clear that the campaign nf ftp advocate neither Prohibition nor State ownership ot the liquor trade. He anticipated considerable opposition, and prophesied that the council would be termed arrow and bigoted. He had been frequently called he said, a mi laughter, “a bigoted fanatic,” and one critic written describing him as “a big-headed ostnch. Cardinal Bourne condemned Prohibition as the very antithesis and contradiction of temperance.” NO “FANCY PROGRAMMES.” fu -P- e P residents of the Temperance Council said the Primate, represented in a quite singular degree the religious force of England, and were an^ntirefy united body in the pursuit of their aims. The large intent upnni e TiTT ? USt ** made clear at the outset; the' people of England must understand rightly and intellitorteda question strangely apt to .be colored and disted- (Hear, hear.) Some people probably desired to see Prohibition here as in America, and others that and licensed houses should belong to the Goevrnment d d be run on public lines; but neither of these courses Thevtli? Un f C l i l ° f , the Christian Churches advocate. had y been“% a" ° n ' y Programm6 WWch The campaign would appeal up and down the country to the open-minded. They had been able to experiment on a scale which but for the war would not have been possible in temperance reform, and new and unexpected knowledge was obtained. No one could study the results of the work of the control boards without being impressed; an abiding lesson had been gained, and now an appeal would be mad© to reasonable men by reasonable men. Cardinal Bourne, Catholic Archbishop of Westminster, moved the following resolution- “The conferenc© welcomes the decision of the Temperance Council of the Christian Churches of England and Wales to initiate and sustain throughout the country an educational temperance campaign, designed to present to the nation the facts of science concerning alcoholism and to show their moral implications.” The history of the temperance movement, he said, showed that greater advances had been made by education than legislation he campaign being inaugurated carried great responsibilities, and the methods of conducting it should first be carefully considered, since everything said and don© would probably be. challenged. (Hear, hear.) In the English language the word temperance had unfortunately com© to be associated only with self-control in the matter of drink, but temperance was one of the great moral virtues, and the teaching put forward should •; make its whole meaning apparent. Some people sought stimulation in harmful drugs, and some were weakening their hearts by excessive smoking ; the campaign, therefore, must be based on the widest lines. The drink question was universal, so that the coming effort must not be insular, and the greatest possible accuracy in scientific fact should be observed. Many of the books and pamphlets dealing with the effects of drink were S thoroughly unconvincing, and no man was likely to be deterred by the statements they contained.