The Irish standard., 1910-01-29
GOLDEN JUBILEE

>>-Av ~A~A0AAA
Of Paalist Community Was Hold Tuesday,
January Is.
Speaking before the Catholic Con-
verts' League in New York recently
Rev. Walter Elliott, C. 8. P, made the
first public announcement of the COM
ing celebration of the golden jubilee
Of the establishment of the Paulist
community in that city. The celebra-
ton took place on January 25th in
the Church of St. Paul the Apostle,
Cardinal Gibbons will preach the SER
mon. Bishops from all parts of the
country have accepted invitations to be
present. and Archbishop Farley will
probably sing the Mass.
In the course of his address at the
meeting of the Catholic Converts
League Father Elliott gave an inter-
esting sketch Of the development of
the nom Catholic mission movement, on
which is founded bright hopes for the
conversion of America.
I'm $685." said Father Elliott, 1--WE
started non-Catholic missions syste-
matically. I was set apart exclusively
for the work and sent out West to de-
monstrate as we called it, and to get
nom Catholics to listen to Catholic doc
trines. Our fears were many. Will the
secular clergy support us? Will the
people themselves listen to us? Will
the press give us the publicity We de-
serve? But American people are Curl
Gus, and the American people readily
receive religious questions.
Twenty odd missions were given
during 1898 and 1894, mostly for nom
Catholics, and the results of those mis-
sions were published in the Paulist CAL
endar-how the people acted and how
the press acted. We said: The work
Is done the moment the priests see we
can fill a church with nom Catholics
every night. The Catholics give up
their seats to nonCatholics every night
and stand by the WALL All we-e
greatly surprised; people applauded-
and went about their ordinary business.
Their indifference-if such a word is
rmissable-although not at all uni.
versal, was general. We took steps to
extend the apostolate, and the first one
practically to help the work was
Bishop Horstmann, whom 1 knew in
timately. We came across him in his
cathedral in 1893. Bishop said 1, Z
believe we can get nom Catholics to
hear US. Give US the men, The Bishop
said he needed oil the priests he had,
as there were pressing missions under
his Jurisdiction. But said he, 4 will
give you three of the best men in my
diocese 1t was a delightful year With
these three men. had to instruct them
IN giving missions. One of them, Fa-
they Kress, is doing great work at
present and only today 1 had letter
from him stating that he is hunting up
the colored people. The work went on.
II remember when we were lust be-
ginning in the Diocese of New York
sitting with our present Archbishop
then monsignor, and with a priest
who said: You cannot get secular
priests to undertake nom Catholic mis-
sions. They're too fond of the Cath
olics to give them up Monsignor Far
ley corrected gently. but firmly, stating
that such was not the case; that the
secular clergy can be easily made in
terested. Shortly afterwards, due to
the efforts of our present Archbishop.
the late Archbishop Corrigan became
himself interested, as did Bishop Gu
sack.
"The work extended in a short time
to Virginia, North and South Carolina.
Alabama, Texas, Florida, Oklahoma and
Mississippi. We look specially to the
South, and we give expenses to every
priest who. lectures there to non-Cath-
olics.
"Once remember meeting on ves-
sci on which I was sailing from Nor:
folk to Boston q chance acquaintance,
an Englishman. I asked him If he was
a Catholic, presuming that being an
Englishman he was not. oh, yes.' he
said, I am. was baptized at one of
your missions in Virginia. How did it
happen? inquired; through book,
no doubt?' oh, no, father he answer
ed; can't read. When I was boy Of
10 years ran away from home in
Devonshire and went to sea. travelled
in every land and mingled with all the
five races-whNe, brown, black, yellow
and red-and everywhere 1 went L
found Catholicism; the same service
everywhere. Here's religion as big
as the world: this is the religion for
me, l said. for it stretches over all