The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1911-09-30
UNDER SOUTHERN SNEs|
INTERESTING STATISTICS RE
GARDiNG THE CATHOLIC
CHURCH IN AUSTRALIA
AND NEW ZEALAND.

Australia is divided into four &C.
clesiastical provinces, that of Sydney
in New South Wales, that of Mel
bourne in Victoria and that of Ade-
laide in South Australia, and that of
Brisbane in Queenland, writes Mgr
Stockman in the Los Angeles "Tid-
ings."
In the island and state of Tasmania
there is but one ecclesiastical province
and one in the Dominion of New Zea-
land.
Besides Sydney's Archdiocese.
there are six other Dioceses in the
province with a total Catholic popula-
tion of over 345,0O0; GOT churches, 3O3
secular and 103 regular priests, 255
religious brothers and 2,409 nuns.
More than 47,O00 children are educated
in Catholic schools and of this num-
ber Sydneys Archdiocese furnishes
more than half.
Note the number of nuns in the
province; this means one nun to
every 135 Catholics. It is evident
that all these nuns were not born in
Australia, but neither were all the
men, nor the other women It is then
a subject worthy of all praise that the
Catholic clergy of Australia have Sc
cured so many devoted women to i'm
part a sound Christian education to
the children of their parishes and
note that what we said of the province
of Sydney is equally applicable to the
other provinces of Australia. The
Archdiocese of Melbourne in the State
of Victoria counts in all four Dio-
ceses with total of 462 churches, 233
secular and 81 regular lpriesIs, 70
religious brothers and 1850 nuns;
with Catholic population of $4,000
and nearly $4,000 children attending
the Catholic schools.
Tasmania is but sparsely settled and
it's. only Diocese counts but 10000
Catholics, with 29 priests and 154
nuns. There are about $3.50 children
in the Catholic schools. In the Arch
diocese of Adelaide there are three
suffragans, one Vicar Apostolic, that
of Kimberley, and one Abbey, "Nul-
Iius,'' that of New Norcia. Only 158
priests, all told, look after the spirit
ual welfare of over 100000 Catholics
scattered over the immense territory
of Western and South Australia A
little over 13,500 children frequent the
Catholic schools. There are 100 re-
ligious brothers and 825 nuns in the
province. Note even here the pro-
portion of nuns to the Catholic popu-
lation-one to every 127 Catholics.
In the Province of Queensland there
is but one Sufragan Bishop and two
Vicars-Apostolic. The number of Cath
olics in the province is $4,000 and
there are nearly $4,000 children in the
Catholic schools. The returns of the
Vicar-Apostolic of New Guinea, are
not included in these estimates From
all of which we gather that in the
commonwealth of Australia there are
nearly $4,000 Catholics out of total
population of nearly 100000, that
nearly 117,000 children are being edu-
Gated in Catholic schools and that the
total number of religious brothers is
only sos whilst the nuns are more
than ten times that number, being
$500, nearly all employed in the
Christian education of the youth of
both sexes.
Verify the future of the Catholic
Church, of it's prosperity and exten-
sion, belongs to the woman of the
future, for as motherhood and the
proper education of the offspring be-
long to woman, as is evident if we
consider the natural order only, so in
the supernatural order there can be
no nobler aim, no higher ambition,
than to bring to the Church of God
numerous children by the example, the
holy teaching and the constant devo-
tion of the thousands of religious wo-
men, who sacrifice their natural de-
sire for motherhood to become the
spiritual mothers of many hundreds
and thousands of little ones, whom
they bring forth into the life of grace
and eternal happiness.
In the Dominion of New Zealand,
the Archdiocese of Wellington has
three Suffragan Bishops with a total
Catholic population of over 10000;
108 secular and 112 religious priests,
SO religious brothers, $50 nuns and
about 1O,20O children attending Cath
olic schools.
The excess of religious priests over
those of the secular clergy is due to
the fact that the missionary work in
the Dominion was first begun by the
Fathers of Mary, generally known as
Marists, and even today the Arch
bishop of Wellington and the Bishop
of Christ Church and nearly two-thirds
OF the clergy belong to the Society OF
Mary. .