Kentucky Irish American. (Louisville, Ky.) 1898-1968, 1908-07-04
Tells What the Catholic Church
Has Done i'm UpbuiIding
Australia.
Many Religious Orders Have
Splendid Schools, Churches
and Asylumns.
QUEER COLLEGE ARRANGEMENT

The Hon. William Rednxuunuui
member of the British ParIiaNI
and brother of the Irish Leader
Hon John Redmond. writes enter
taingly of the Catholic church i'm Aus
tralia. He says in part: To-day Aus
tralla has at least a million Catholics
IN sydney and Melbourne; and i'm all
the other great centers and through
out the land generally there are Ca
thedrals and churches of exceeding
magnitcence, and Catholic schools.
colleges and institutions such as any
nation, even the oldest in the world.
might be proud of. 1t would be i'm
possible for me to do anything like
justice to the splendid Catholic edu-
catlonal establishments of Australia.
The Jesuits, Vincentians, the Chris
tian Brothers, the Marists. the Sis
tiers of Mercy, st. Joseph's and va
r1ous other orders have all founded
and built up magnificent educational
institutions, the scholars of which
hold their own brilliantly in all walks
of life; and ii is indeed a pleasant
thing to be able to say that those in
authority in Australia who are NOT
Catholics themselves, but Prot
estants of various denominations
readily acknowledge the magnificent
work for the nation done by the
Catholic church and Catholic schools.
And while there may still linger
mere and there some echo of bigotrvv
and ill-feeling, 1t is a pleasure to
know that, generally speaking, Cath 4
ollcs and Protestants in Australia livsA
side by side in state of mutual tai
Grafton, respect, and good will, VIII
tends greatly towards the happj
and progress of the country,
forms bright example whicl<
patriotic lrishman, no matn
ms religion may be, WOULD "
followed up at home here-aI
There is, however, in reference to
the education question in Australia.
one drawback which | think consti-
tutes almost the only blot on the
freedom and equality undoubtedly ex-
perienced in the new commonwealth
by men of ali races and creeds. The
national system of education is one
that practically excludes religion. In
the States education is, therefore,
secular and compulsory. Arrange
ments are made whereby on some
days ministers of different denomin-
atoms may, for short periods, enter
the schools and teach the children
of their fiocks. This arrangement
has been accepted pretty generally by !
the Church of England people, butt
1t has never been accepted by CATH
olics.
Therefore the Catholics maintain
schools of their own wherever their
numbers warrant it. They provide
as high and good an education in
every way as the public schools. but
nevertheless their educational work
is not in any way rewarded or recog-
nized. That is to say, the Catholics
pay fully one-fourth of the cost of
the public school system of the vari-
Gus States, but they receive not one
farthing towards the maintenance of
their own schools.
SAT one period Catholic schools
received some assistance in the Aus
tralian States, but from time to time
this assistance was not given, and in
1873 the purely secular system was
introduced. One by one the States
followed this course, until today none
of the States give any assistance to
the Catholic schools, and yet, as |
have said, all the authorities in the
country recognize the splendid work
of these institutions, and the records
of the University of Australia bear
testimony to the success of CATHOLIC
I'm these days. when there is so
much talk of the university question
in Ireland, it is of interest to know
that the Sydney University contains
three colleges--Catholic, Presbyteri-
an and Protestant-and the system
seems to work we'll, though the num- I
Der of students is naturally limited
in a new country"