Blackpool CATENIAN'S CHOICE.—Blackpoel has been chosen as the venue of the annual general meeting of the Catenian Association, which will be held on Saturday, June 5. The Association had its origin in Lancashire, over thirty years ago, and Blackpool is a popular choice for the annual meeting. It is expected that about a thousand members will be present.
Cleveleys
FIRST CHURCH.---On Sunday last the first Catholic church to be built at Cleveleys. near Blackpool, was solemnly opened and blessed by the Bishop of Lancaster, Mgr. T. W. Pearson. The cost of building the church was £7,000.
Harrogate 300-YEAR-OLD CHARITY. — The Bishops of Middlesbrough and Leeds were present at the annual meeting of the Yorkshire Brethren Society which was held at Harrogate and was attended by about 200 clergy from the dioceses of Leeds and Middlesbrough. From the year 1660 a list has been kept of the secular clergy of Yorkshire who have been members of this Society, and amongst them are two of the Yorkshire martyrs, Ven. Fr. Nicholas Postgate, and Ven. Fr. Thomas Thwing. The Society assists in the maintenance of invalided priests. Mgr. Provost John Russell, of Keighley, who has been president of the Society for the past twenty-five years, has retired from that office, and has been succeeded by Canon Michael Beazley, of Skipton.
Hexham and Newcastle
RERUM NOVARUM SUNDAY.By the order of the Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle, in all churches of the diocese extracts were read of the Papal Encyclical, Rerurn Novarum.
Leeds NEW CANONS INSTALLED.—The Very Rev. Thomas Bentley, administrator of St. Anne's Cathedral, Leeds, and the Very Rev. John White, P.P., St. Catherine's, Sheffield, were solemnly installed as members of the diocesan chapter at the Cathed ral on Tuesday morAing. Mgr. Provost Joseph Russell officiated at the robing ceremony, assisted by the Vicar-General (Mgr. Canon Hawkswell) and Canons of the diocese. The new Canons fill the vacancies caused by the deaths of Canons P. Vermeiee (Leeds) and M. Daly (Bradford.) LOURDES PILGRIMAGE. — Leeds Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes has been revived after a lapse of three years. The Bishop of Leeds will lead the pilgrimage which leaves on Whit Monday and returns the following week.
TAKING THE CHILDREN TO SCHOOL—One of the pressing problems arising from the removal of urban population to new housing estates is the provision of school accommodation for Catholic children. Several estates in Leeds have as yet no Catholic school, and Catholic children are obliged either to attend nonCatholic schools, or make long journeys by 'bus or car to the centre of the city. In the majority of cases parents are too poor to afford the cost of transport for their children. The position on the Scott Hall Road district, an outlying part of the Cathedral parish, is typical in this respect. For the present the difficulty has been solved by the chartering of a special 'bus to bring the children to school and fetch them home again. Sixty children are now being looked after in this way at the cost to the parish of £4 per week. It is a heavy charge on the parish funds, and Canon Bentley has intimated that, owing to other urgent financial commitments, he will need greater help from the congregation if the work is to be carried on.
ARCHBISHOP AT CATENIAN DINNER.—The Archbishop of Liverpool will be the principal guest at the annual dinner of the Leeds Catenians, which is to take place next January.
Liverpool
19,000 NAMES.—Over 19,000 names are now inscribed in the " Book of St. Paul-ofthe-Cross" which is the list of subscribers towards a chapel dedicated to that saint to he builtin the Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral. Liverpool Catholic Police Guild have contributed over £11,000, and Mgr. T. Adamson's recent appeal in Glasgow raised an initial amount of £140. £1,000 has been left to the Cathedral Building Fund in the will of the late Mr. Shortland, of Southport.
THE CHURCH : OPIUM OR FRIEND. —The Archbishop's Committee have issued throughout the Archdiocese of Liverpool another bill entitled The Church—Friend of the Worker and the Needy. It deals with the Communists' allegations that " religion is the opium of the people " and that the Church supports the rich against the poor.
Penshaw PARADISE.—" You have here a paradise for the chikIren—but a burden for the parents," declared Mgr. Joseph McCormack, the Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle, during his address on Saturday afternoon after he had blessed and officially opened a new school at Penshaw, Co. Durham. Turning to the parents his Lordship continued: "Keep up your hearts, do your best for you have every reason to be proud of this burden." The school, which is for juniors, has cost £10,000.
Shotton Colliery
1,000 STRONG.—At Shotton Colliery, Co. Durham, on Sunday over a thousand representatives of North-Eastern branches of the C.Y.M.S. gathered in a grand display of Catholic Solidarity.
Wythenshawe NEW SCHOOL.—On Monday the new junior schools at Wythenshawe were opened_ They can take 400 scholars, and were built at a cost of f8,500.