The San Francisco call., 1910-01-02

NEW YORK. Jan. THE new library
OF the biblical institute in Rome. which
was recently formally lnaugurated by
Father Fonck in a learned discourse,
although far from complete so early
ia its existence, already has a remark
e5ie number Of works of great price
and rarity.
1t is composed of 30 sections in three
general divisions In the first division
is found Introductory natter such as
photographed material ana recent bib
5cal periodicals and reviews In the
second is collection OF commentaries
en- the sacred teNt-historical. didactic,
prophetic poetic. Pauline, apostolic.
apocaIyptic, etc. IN the third is a
selection OF Complementary matter
dogma, geography, archaeology, phii-
ology, liturgy and the like.
In an annex to the library proper
there is an interesting museum of bot
amy. anthropolOsy. zoology and miner
alogv. embracing whatever may be OF
assistance i'm the pursuit of biblical
studies.
The number Of students and hearers
Is on the increase At present II
reaches l20. of whom the majority are
Italians.
The recent refusal of Archbishop
Bourne of Westminster England, TO
ioin the Congo reform association has
drawn forth a letter from Cardinal
Mercier ana the bishops of Belgium
thanking him for his prudent action.
he based his refusal on the ground
that he distrusted the methods Of the
society, and that the perUsal Of Sir
1.ares 1io7
been relied on TO persuade him-had
Only made him distrust them the more.
: In an address at Liverpool the afcn-
bishop further explained his position
He stated that there are three points
involved In this question-land tenure,
taxes and the atrocities. With regard
TO land tenure he believes that every
one is entitled TO his own opinion,
though Belgium has done only what
other civilized powers had done. As to
taxes. IL is quite lawful TO discuss
whether the natives should pay their
taxes in money or i'm labor
With regard to tire outrages. he re-
minded his hearers that tile Congo is
an immense territory. and that no one
has a right TO seneralize concerning
the whole from isolated facts. It is
also just 10 hear the opposite side II
has much TO say TO which the reform
association viii not listen. Finally.
missionaries scattered over So stations
with 10000 converts have nothing to
say on the subject.
Archbishop Ryan has established in
Philadelphia a central bureau for All
the charitable activities OF the arch
diocese. 1T is mana ged by a board Of
directors of Catholic lavmen. Of which
Mgr \. T.. Fisher has been elected
president.
The bureau viii establish a house in
which dependent children and adults
scan be cared for temporarily. until dis
posed of in suitable institutions. The
placing Of orphans in families, rather
than crowding them in asylums, viii
be another branch Of the bureaus
work.
The practice Of caricaturing st Paul
the patron saint OF the city OF st. Paul,
Mimi in the garb Of fat grinning.
old monk, was recently brought to Il
sudden halt in that city. on the occa-
sion of a Halo Gala" Christmas cele-
bration. along the lines of the 'Mardi
Gras,T i'm which burlesque statue Of
the saint was 10 be the prominent
feature
oddly enough. the first protest came
from q Protestant minister; which was
followed up ny hundreds OF letters
from laymen and Catholic societies all
over the state. Six hundred Catholic
cadets from ST Thomas college de-
clined 10 take part in the parade.
Stin no heed seemed to be paid TO the
protests: and the statue was set up in
a prominent store window.
Then the pastor OF the st. Paul ca
thedral informed the committee that If
the insult were continued protests
would be read in every Catholic church
ia The city on Sunday. and a meeting
Of $1,000 men would be called i'm the
sruditorium for the same purpose in the
.s.ening The offensive statue was
promptly replaced by one OF Santa
Claus.
The same influence was invoked 10
secure the early closing of the stores on
Christmas eve after every other ef-
fort had failed, and every merchant in
,the city signed an agreement to close
al o'clock, contrary 10 all precedent
for years.
AS the champion Of respect for reli-
egious things the church can always be
counted on and when she espouses the
cause Of labor IN some such practical
form Of confederation the efforts Of So
6salism and anarchy fade into insigniG-
canoe.
There comes back TO us by the round
about way Of Dalnratia an appreciative
reference to President Tafts recent
visit TO Montana and his meeting with
the Catholic Serb and Catholic Croat
population
While assisting at the laying of the
cornerstone of their new college the
nresident referred to the solid moral
and intellectual qualities Of the south
ern SIaN immigrants 10 the United States.