Here and There

New Zealand Tablet, Volume LII, Issue 9, 11 March 1925, Page 45

Here and There

Praise for the Osservatore.— The Osservcitore 'Romano, the official organ of the Vatican, and on that account supposed to be of little moment, is declared 'by the Morning Post to he the only really independent newspaper in Italy to-day. After saying that a great deal too much has been made of Mussolini’s methods with the opposition press, the Tory organ goes on to say; “Meanwhile it would appear that the only really independent paper published to-day in Italy is the Osservatore Romano, the Vatican organ, which presumably shares in the extra-territoriality of the Pope. It is, as is fitting, a serious little paper, well Written and not' at all biassed, and it is indispensable even in normal times to the student of Italian affairs. Unfortunately it comes out about 9 p.m., at an hour when despatches for the English papers have already left Rome, and its influence on opinion here can be but small.” « « « Mount Everest.—The death of the two daring mountain climbers Mallory and Irvine, while attempting to ascend Mt. Everest, again called the public’s attention to the world’s highest mountain. This famous Himalayan peak takes its name from a British officer, Colonel Everest, to whom its first discovery by Europeans is generally attributed. In Col. Howard-Bury’s account of the preliminary expedition of 1921, this claim i is repeated, but in another book, Mount . Everest, Sven Hedin disagrees with this finding and proceeds to show that the mountain was seen and described by Europeans more than 200 years ago. “It is absolutely incorrect,” he says, “to say that Mount Everest was the discovery of. the English Colonel Everest; ... the Mount, with only slight inaccuracies, is found under the true Tibetan name, £ Tschomolungma,’ on mans made by French Jesuits in Peking in the year 1777. These maps were first engraved in Paris and published in 1733.” Hedin further recalls how the two Jesuits, Cruel)or and D’Orville, left Peking in 1661, and made their way through Tibet, visited Lhasa, its capital, carrying scientific instruments with them. This was probably the first European expedition to this “forbidden” country, and' an account of it is preserved in Kirchner’s China Illustrate. Nor is this the only expedition of the kind. Some forty years later, or in 1703, to be exact, six Capuchins left Rome for Lhasa, where they arrived in 1707, being later reinforced by other missionaries. Not to be outdone, two Jesuits, Fathers Desideri and Freyre, reached Lhasa a short ? time afterwards, and an account of their journey was published in Rome in 1904 by the Italian Geographical Society. .- To all h these missionaries, Mount Everest, as it is •dr; now known, could scarcely have been other TV /than a familiar object, since it towers almost over Lhasa itself. Sven Hedin goes on to describe other expeditions to Tibet'in the i same century. In 1738; ■'the > Capuchin Father, Orazio della Penna, with eleven others, left Rome for!', Tibet, and reached Lhasa in 1741, passing through .Tingri and

Schikar, which places Col. Bury (undoubtedly in good faith), asserts he was the first European to visit. And from that time on other missionaries, braving the opposition that was undoubtedly made to them, penetrated the forbidden land, and even had audience with the Grand Lhama himself. This fact by no means undermines the credit due to Colonel Everest, to Colonel Younghusband, or to the personnel of the expeditions of 1923, and the one of a few months ago in which the intrepid Mallory and Irvine lost their lives. • » • Egypt’s. Apostolic Delegation.—Recently in the charming island of Ghesireh, on a branch of the River Nile, at a little distance from the bridge of Bolacco that joins the lovely island with the city, the Delegate Apostolic blessed and laid the first stone of the residence of the Apostolic Delegation. The ceremony had a very intimate character and was of an importance that cannot be overestimated in this far-distant region. A numerous and, distinguished gathering witnessed the function. The bishops of Egypt, the Vicars, and a large number of the clergy, representatives of religious institutes, and other notables were present. The great plot of land on which the new edifice rises was decorated with gaily-colored banners in honor of the event. Conspicuous among them were the papal banners. An artistic parchment printed in Latin by Mgr. Nuti, Apostolic Vicar of Egypt, and in French by Mgr. Aziz, Bishop of Caldeo, was enclosed in the stone, telling to posterity that the monument has been placed under the protection of St. Mark Evangelist, St. Catherine of Alexandria, Virgin, and all the saints of Egypt, in the reign of the Pontiff, Pius XI, and of Found I sitting on the Egyptian Throne. After the corner-stone was blessed, the Apostolic Delegate addressed his great audience in moving sentiments. “It is not without profound emotion,” he said, “that I have blessed this corner-stone of the residence of the Apostolic Delegation. The Divine Blessing has come to confirm the most noble and worthy propositions which testify to the great filial devotion of the Egyptian people toward the Holy See. . “The building of a house is in itself not an important thing. But the significance of this house is grand and sublime. It will perpetuate those eternal principles of charity and faith which have always been the force and the vaunt of the Catholic Church through the course of centuries.” * * * Novitiate for Negro Priests and Sisters. — The Catholics of Holland are engaged in -an effort to raise funds necessary for the establishment of a seminary for the training of negro priests and a novitiate for negro Sisters in the Uganda protectorate. The project has been organised by friends of the Right Rev. Joseph Biermans; a native ; of Holland, who is now Superior-General of St. : Joseph’s 1 Society for Foreign Missions,

Mill Hill, England. Bishop Biermans spent 28 years as a missionary in the Upper. Nile region—sixteen years as a priest and twelve as Vicar-Apostolic. His recent selection as the Superior-General of the Congregation founded by the late Cardinal Vaughan to carry the Gospel abroad, cut short his plans for the establishment of a seminary and novitiate in the Vicariate, over which he presided. The task - was taken up by his friends, and it is hoped the necessary funds will have been raised by March, 1925. At that time, in accordance with the Dutch custom, Bishop Biermans will celebrate a jubilee to mark the twelve and a half years of his episcopal service. It is planned to make the presentation of funds for the Uganda seminary and novitiate a part of the jubilee celebration. More than 150,000 persons have been baptised in the Uganda vicariate during Bishop Bierman’s term of service as a missionary there-. Of this number, more than. 15,000 were baptised in 1923. It is this steady progress of Christianity in that territory that in the opinion of Bishop Biermans and his friends, justifies the erection of a seminary and novitiate to take care of religious vocations among the natives. • * » Orders of Deaf Mutes and Blind Sisters.— The celebration of the jubilee of a deaf-mute who entered a Religious Order in 1864 and who is now 83 years of age, has called the'' attention of the public to the Order to which she belongs, and which is composed entirely, of deaf mutes (writes a Paris correspondent). It is the Community of Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows, founded in 1851 by' Abbe de Larnay at Poitiers. Since that time fifty deaf mutes have entered the community. Half of this number have alrealy passed to their reward. Twenty-four religious and one novice remain. The Sisters of Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows have, at ! several times, received as pupils young girls who are still more unfortunate than themselves, for they were blind in addition: to being deaf and dumb, belonging to the class of unfortunates known as “the souls in prison,” There is also, in France, an order of blind nuns, the Sisters of St. Paul.