Bishop Vesters, Of

Rabaul.

Receives Belated Award in New Year's Honours.

THREE Islands men were included in the New Year’s Honours list, an nounced by the Commonwealth Gov eimment on January 1. They were: His Lordship, Bishop G. J. Vesters, of the Sacred Heart Mission, Vunapope, New Guinea, who received the award of Hon orary Officer of the Civil Division of the Most Excellent Order of the British Em pire “for services rendered in the recent volcanic eruptions at Rabaul”.

Sergeant-Major Naduba, of Kavieng, New Guinea, and Company Sergeant-Major Omeli, of Nauru, who each received the King’s Police Medal.

There will be satisfaction in the Man dated Territory at the belated honour be stowed upon Rt. Rev. Gerard John Vest ers, D.D. A Dutchman, he has won the respect of all creeds and classes by his

unfailing devotion to the spiritual, men tal, and physical needs of the 90,000 na tive adherents of the Catholic church in his province, which includes New Britain, New Ireland, and the adjacent islands.

Dr. Vesters was consecrated Titular Bishop of Diocletianopolis and Vicar Apostolic of Rabaul in August, 1923, suc ceeding the first bishopr Dr. L. Couppe.

Bishop Vesters is a benevolent and ac complished scholar—in addition to his

own language, he speaks English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, and Latin, plus a number of native dialects. He has proved an able leader and administrator in Vunapope, the Sacred Heart Mission’s headquarters 20 miles from Rabaul, where there is a self-supporting community and a very fine cathedral.

Long years of travelling, mostly by sea, have given His Lordship a commonplace outlook on adventure —voyages of hun dreds of miles in 30-footers have ceased to mean danger to this mild, earnest mis sionary whose heart and soul are wrapped up in the stupendous job of caring for his flock.

Bishop G. J, Vesters, O.B. E.

Dr. E. P. Ellison, with Matron Butler, of the Avarua Hospital staff, Rarotonga, Cook Islands.