The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1917-10-06

Bagley, general secretary of the com
mittee is in receipt of a letter from
his son, written at Vancouver, British
Columbia who says in reference to the
proposed Knights of Columbus activi-
ties in France:
Il think those camps can be made
the finest things in the world. AS
see the soldiers returning here and
talk to them-especially the Catholic
ones-and learn how little regard is
really taken of them, it seems terri
Bile that for the three years the war
has been going on, and despite the
fact that nearly one half the British
army is Catholic, as one officer told
me, there has been little done for
them in France or England. The
priests use the Y. M. C. A. post for
saying Mass
Foreign Encampments.
1t is the intention to open a. general
headquarters at Paris, and from there
to conduct the work which will be
done by chaplains and secretaries in
the camps and the trenches. The Rev.
Lewis j.. OHern, who is the repre-
sentative of the hierarchy in the mat
ter of appointing Catholic chaplains
to the United States Army and Navy,
is DESTROYS of receiving more applica-
tons from priests who aspire to serve
with the American army in France.
French speaking priests who, if not
American born, are fully naturalized,
are in great demand. They must be
| not more than forty years of age, and
physically able to measure up to the
standard of the army examinations.
That the chaplains' corps may be
increased by the government is highly
probable. According to present regu-
lations one chaplain is permitted for
every regiment. 1t will be remem-
bered that the regiments have recent
ly been tripled in size. This greatly
| reduced the number of chaplains and
naturally handicapped them in their
work. Senator Chamberlain has in
| troduced an amendment to the bill
providing for the appointment of
| chaplains, which if passed, will pro-
vide for the assignment of one chap
lain for every 1,200 men.
A committee composed of repre-
| sentatives of the Federation of
| Churches of Christ in America
(non-Catholic) and also of representa-.
tives of the Catholic Church, presented
a petition to President Wilson and
Secretary of War Baker, Thursday
afternoon, September 81, asking them
| to lend their influence in securing the
| passage of this bill. President Wilson
said the matter would probably not
receive attention at the present ses-
sion of Congress, but that it would be
given attention in the next session.
Secretary Baker said he was heartily
in favor of the principle of the amend
ment, but that he did not see the
need of three chaplains for each regi-
ment. He promised, however, to ad-
wise the passage of the amendment
provided it be changed so as to pro-
vide for the assignment of two chap
lains for each unit of $500 men.
The Rt. Rev. Owen Corrigan, D. D.,
auxiliary Bishop of Baltimore, repre-
scented Cardinal Gibbons and spoke in
behalf of the bill, as did the Rev.
Lewis J. O'Hern, C. S. P. Col. P. H.
Callahan, chairman of the knights of
Columbus Committee on War activi-
ties, was the representative of the lay
body. The non-Catholic speakers in
clude Bishop Mcdowell of the Method
list Church and Bishop Lawrence of
the Episcopal Church. The passage
of this amendment even though the
number of chaplains is reduced to two
for each regiment, will greatly facili-
tate the work of the Knights of Co
lumbus, as it will mean an increase
in the Catholic quota, and will thus
reduce to certain extent the neces-
sity for auxiliary chaplains 1t will
also give military status to more
priests, which it has been found is a
great aid to them in their work.