Separate missions at Leeds
TWO weeks ago in this column was an eye-witness account of the Roman Forum which drew 1,000 University undergraduates to meetings organised by the Catholic Society of Manchester. This week lei us turn to Leeds University. where the other Chuches had arranged a general University mission led by Fr. Trevor Huddlestone. All Christians were invited. and all denominations contributed lecturers. services. posters, and books. As always on these joint occasions. the Catholics stood out alone. I was told that some of the denominations taking part felt that Roman Catholics would be out of place in an "Evangelical Mission" and that the majority of Catholics agreed with this view. The Catholic Society organised its own mission to which all were invited and to which a surprising number
Carrie.
Hyde on Marxism
THE ordinary mission confer' ences drew about 100 undergraduates, not all Catholics by any means. Douglas Hyde, who spoke at lunch time in the great hall of the University. had an audience of 400 and considerable publicity in the press. His admirable lecture caused wide comment and was a notable success. Christopher Hollis spoke in the TV lounge of the Union to nearly 200 people on the unusual but always topical subject "Death". The Brains Trust on Thursday evening drew 200 and some of the very best questions that I ever heard put to a panel. On the panel with Colm Brogan were Mr. Cameron, senior lecturer in philosophy at the University. and Dr. Anderson of the medical department. The mission also included some very delightful coffee parties in the different residential halls. At one organised at Oxley Hall some 80 undergraduates. men and w o m e n, argued about theology for two hours and a half.
Lourdes Centenary
IT is now just a year since the Six Halls Festival in honour of the centenary of . Lourdes inaugurated a long series of pilgrimages and pageants in every part of the world. The Ross-Williamson mime was produced in innumerable places and the two songs about Bernadette became popular in many different countries. The photograph of 1.r. Duval with the little girl who played the part of Bernadette at the Royal Albert Hall has been widely reproduced. Sad to say, no credit was given to the photographer, Mr. M. Feldman, of Rainbow Photoflash Studio, and I must hasten to make amends before the close of the centenary year.
Fr. Duval
FR. DUVAL left England just before Christmas to sing in Barcelona. An English eye-witness of this concert tells me that the fog of London had seriously affected his voice. Then, after a pause, news arrived of his Canadian tour which was triumphant and included four concerts at Montreal. two in Quebec, and one each at Shcrbrook, Sudbury and Winnipeg. Fr. Duval crossed into the States to sing for a famous television programme, and he is due to give two concerts in Lisbon on his return journey to France. His visit to England last February was his first engagement outside France. In a year he has done two tours of England, concerts in Spain, Germany. Holland and Belgium. and now finally the visit to Canada and the United States.
Tailpiece
LENT wilt start all the better for this curious letter sent me by an Irish reader and cut from a paper which cannot be acknowledged as the name has been omitted. The letter reads: "Dear Sir,-Readers who have read Mr. X's curious story in your last issue may be interested in this strange happening to my brother. He was living at the time near Finglas, and after visiting friends in the country he missed the last bus into town. As he began to walk the five miles, he tried to thumb a lift. Two cars ignored his call but a third stopped near him and he jumped in. Imagine his surprise when he turned politely to thank the driver and found that there was no-one in the car. My brother had not recovered from this shock when the car, which was