Points from the Report
It is now upwards of forty-one years since the Universities Catholic Education Board came into existence as the result of a decision of Propaganda, approved by Pope Leo XIII, which, subject to certain conditions, removed the prohibition of the Holy See against Catholics attending the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. For forty out of those forty-one years chaplaincies have been in existence, both at Oxford and at Cambridge. In both universities the chaplain's house and the oratory are provided by local organisations; the Board's main concern, on the financial side, is the provision of a maintenance grant for the chaplain appointed by the Hierarchy, and of funds for the delivery of lectures. or conferences to the undergraduates.
In the annual report, just issued, for the year ending at Michaelmas last, it is mentioned that good progress has been made in the accumulation of an Endowment Fund, for which the Board appealed for the sum of £10,000. As yet that amount is still a long way from realisation, and even when it has been obtained there will still be need, the report states, for collecting annually from those primarily interested in the work.
Since the Great War, between 120 and ISO Catholic undergraduates have been in residence at each University. At Oxford they are looked after, spiritually, by the Rev. Ronald Knox, M.A.. and at Cambridge by the Rev. A. N. Gilbey, M.A.