Catholic World

New Zealand Tablet, 24 April 1924, Page 47

Catholic World

""M POSITION OF EDUCATION IN ENGLAND. Although economy in public expenditure is the order of the day in Mr. MacDonald’s Government, education is not going to be starved out in order to make a pretty balance sheet for the Treasury. This being so, it does not look as if the Catholic schools, for example, need fear the fall of the economy axe (says Catholic News Service London, for February 18). , . For a couple of years or so there has been widespread unemployment amongst the school teachers, and young teachers on leaving the, training colleges have found no vacant posts waiting for them. This state of affairs will no doubt find a remedy in the plan of the Minister of Education to reduce the size of the classes. Classes of 60 pupils- will first of all be reduced, and more classes made up; after that the classes of 50 will-bo brought down. Apparently the State schools are not alone to be affected by the scheme, so the denominational schools may expect to be included. Besides rcducing/fhe classes to manageable proportions, the Minister proposes to expand facilities for making scholarships to the secondary schools and universities available. Whatever the Government may aim at in reducing the cost of national defence, it does not intend to apply a policy of stingy saving to education. GLASGOW LOOMS LARGE. Ecclesiastically 7 Glasgow traces back its history to about the year 543, when the great Celtic missionary St. Kentigern, also called St. Mungo and most probably an Irishman, founded an episcopal see along the Clyde. In the ecclesiastical sense Glasgow has emerged again fairly recently, since its 25 per cent Catholic population, also very largely Irish, has stirred the Kirk to a panic, so much so that the presbytery is demanding “Scotland for the Scots” —a device which aims at getting the Catholic schools off the rates. And Glasgow- is continuing to make history. From the city came that rarity in English political life, a Catholic Cabinet Minister, the Right Hon. John Wheatley, Minister of Health. Last of all, three Irish Catholics in the city have just been appointed justices of the peace —one of them a Canon of the Metropolitan Chapter. Catholics, both men and women, have not been passed over in recent years in the appointments as magistrates. But three Catholics at on© time and in one city is a record creditable to the Lord Chancellor and the Government of w-hich he is a member. JUGO-SLAVS COMPLAINT AGAINST ITALY. V. From time to time considerable disquieting feeling is aroused amongst the South Slavs, that is, the Croats and Slovenes, by the complaints coming from more than half a million of the Jugo-Slavs who are forced to live under a foreign domination in the territories beyond the national frontiers , of Jugo-Slavia* This feeling, always acute, has been accentuated recently by happenings that have taken place in the regions populated by the Slavs but now occupied by the Italians, i For example, the Italian authorities have decreed that as froin the beginning of the scholastic year all the schools in the occupied territory, whether. Croat or Slovene, will be Italianised. The reports coming in from those parts tell that one after the other the Croat and Slovene school teachers are being dismissed from their posts. At the same time their priests are denied the ordinary rights of Italian citizens; the idea being, presumably, to make them leave Italian territory . Last October the Prefect of Trieste issued a decree that all the ' Slav newspapers were to be published in two languages; .that is, an Italian translation of the articles in thd Slav language was to be printed in parallel columns.

.This ■'decree,"J-it must be added, was afterwards revoked by the Government in Rome. ' *L A* But while the Italians domiciled'in Jugo-Slavia have 7 -/ their, own Italian ' schools and bring - their own teachers from Italy, the Jugo-Sltvs who live under Italian governance are denied this privilege, although it was secured to them by the Peace Treaty. • - ,v Last October there was a great popular demonstration in Laibach, when the whole Slovene people made a united protest against the penalisation of almost a thud of their race. At this meeting, there was read out publicly the Italian manifesto of 1919, which declared, when the territory was occupied by the Italians, “Italy, the 'great liberty-loving nation, gives you, schools •in your own language, more schools than you ever had under the Austrian domination. Your religion, also, will be respected; the Catholic religion, which is also the religion of the whole of Italy.” r ". , ’• . ... " • • . But; -in the light of what has happened since that manifesto was first published, the' Slovenes feel convinced that in the, Italianised territory the Catholic life is impossible of development, because the Catholic organisations are being persecuted under the pretext that they arc Slovene, and therefore political societies. MORAVIAN METROPOLITAN IS CONSECRATED. The outstanding Catholic’event in Moravia has been the episcopal consecration of Mgr. Precan as Archbishop of Olmiitz and Metropolitan of Moravia. The consecrating prelate was Mgr. Kordac, Archbishop of Prague and Metropolitan of Bohemia. Exceptionally cold weather prevailed at the time; but in spite of this the vast ancient cathedral was filled from end to end by a great congregation which 1 allowed the four hoars’ ceremony of consecration with the closest interest. This important function .was graced with the presence of his Excellency the Apostolic Nuncio, Mgr. Marmaggi, wh> was accompanied by his secretary, Mgr. Arata. The President of the Republic was represented by the Minister of Agriculture, and Monsignor Sramek, who is Minister of Public Health, represented the Cabinet. There were present also the high civil authorities of Moravia and Silesia, senators and deputies of the Parliament, generals of the army and officers representing the numerous Catholic organisations of the country. In the choir were the Bishop of lira doc Kralove, the Apostolic Administrator of Trnva. Abbot Zavoral of Strahov, delegates of the. Chapters of Bohemia and Moravia,' and some 200 priests from all parts of the archdiocese of Olmiitz. At the end of the consecration ceremony the Auxiliary of Olmiitz, Mgr. Wisnar, introduced the members of the Metropolitan Chapter and presented the clergy of the archdiocese to their new Metropolitan, to whom they rendered the customary homage and fidelity. Speaking in Latin and Czech and German, for his diocese includes part of Prussian Silesia, the Archbishop thanks his Holiness, the Nuncio, his consecrator and the assistant bishops for their goodwill towards him. Later there was a banquet in the Archbishop’s Palace at which The Nuncio, speaking in Latin, spoke at length on the future of the Archbishop and the Republic. The task of the new Archbishop—said his Excellency—would be to work not only for the welfare of souls in. his vast archdiocese, but to act as an intermediary between the Catholic Church and the Oriental Churches* in fact, to be the promoter of Church Unity, a movement which has its centre in the archdiocese of Olmiitz. The same sentiment was uttered by Archbishop Kordac, who said tkat the Archbishop of Olmiitz would find one of his missions to be the task of'bringing to the Christian faith all those who had been led astray by 7 rationalism. Archbishop Precan has since visited Prague, where besides the courtesy calls paid tb Archbishop Kordac and the Nuncio, he was received in audience by the President of the Republic, and attended also the receptions given by the President to the' members of the Diplomatic Corps.