TRANSPLANTED IRISH INSTITUTIONS - University of Canterbury

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already noted the evangelical Protestants were notable for their attacks on the 'errors' in the
Roman Catholic Church teachings. This goes some way to explaining the two-pronged
attacks by people such as Auffray and Chapman who were exposing Rome's 'errors' from
entirely different ideological bases.
The next anti -Catholic lecturers of significance were Joseph and Mary Slattery,
who arrived in New Zealand in January 1900. They were invited by the L.O.I. to try and
gain more members. 104
The nature of this lecturing campaign was distinct from all
previous campaigns. Whereas with both Chiniquy and Auffray had some censorship by the
newspapers it was not a coordinated effort and the New Zealand Tablet did not playa
prominent role in this. The opposite was true for the Slattery's. This change in dealing with
anti-Catholic lecturers can be traced to Father Henry William Cleary who was editor of the
New Zealand Tablet from 1898 to 1910.
Cleary had the experience in dealing with
controversial issues since his The Orange Society which attacked the very nature of the
Orange Institution, had been through eleven editions since its publication in 1895.105 In
Geary, the Catholic Church had a 'defender of the faith' who led an aggressive campaign to
discredit the Slattery's and everyone who supported them.
The number of pamphlets and New Zealand Tablet reports about the Slatterys
gives testimony to this being a coordinated campaign. As already seen, previous anti-
Catholic lecturers may have encountered some press resistance but there were still large
audiences and open pUlpits for them to preach from. It was not to be that easy for the
Slatterys. Cleary was prepared for their arrival and two reprints from the New Zealand
Tablet discrediting the Slatterys were the key to the anti-Slattery campaign. The Slattery's
campaign in Thames at the beginning of their tour set the tone for the remainder of their
visit. On the Sunday before the Slatterys arrived at Thames for a lecture on 30 January
104Victorian Standard. 30 June, 1899. In the context of the Slattery's Australian tour, a Dunedin
correspondent stated- "The Orange cause here is moving along quietly. We are all very pleased to learn
that ex-priest and Mrs. Slattery are having big meetings, and we are hoping for a visit from them. I
understand the lecturers have been written to on the subject of a New Zealand tour, but we realise that
they have many calls and a large field before them ."
I05Rory Sweetman, 'New Zealand Catholicism and the Irish Issue, 1914-1922' in W.J. Sheils and Diana
Wood (eds), The Churches. Ireland and the Irish, Studies in Church History, vol. 25, Oxford, Basil
Blackwell Ltd, 1989, p. 3TI.