Mower County transcript., 1869-12-23
The Catholic Hterarchy-HGw 1t is Com
posed.

Z
Ill utreCI the attention Of tho wuritlt 10 sa.o
members who compose it. The Catholic
hierarchy has often enlisted the admiration
of many who were strangers or even oppo-
nents to the Catholic creed. It is the only
monarchy among the great religious organ
izations of the world Neither the Greek
Church, nor a single one of the Protestant
bodies, nor Judaism, nor Mohammedan-
ism, nor any other non.C Christian form of
belief has q monarchial head. The present
Pope, Plus TX, was born May 13, 1892, and
is therefore now in his 18th year. In the
list of bishops of Rome, as it is given in the
official Papal Almanac, he is accounted the
257th. Like all of hisprede during the
last 800 years, he il an Italian by birth !;
the last non-Italian Pope being Adrian IL,
who was Hollander, and died in 1929.
OF all the bishops Of Rome only 40 were
non-I Italians, and Of these Is were French
men, q Germans, and 2 sSpaniards. The
Pontifcate of Plus TX. is one of the longest
on record. Having been elected on the
10th of June, 1886, he has occupied the
Papal chair for % years and six m0nths. It
is we'll known legend-the; correctness of
which, however, even most of the Catholic
Church historians are not willing to de-
fend-that st. Peter was bishop of the Ro-
man congregation for full Is years, and
with this legend common expectation has
connected itself, that no following Pope will
occupy the apostolic chair an equal length
Of time, until the last Pope, under whose
pontificate this world will come to an end.
Certain it is that no Pope, SO far as docu-
mentary history has been traced, has ruled
for 25 gears. Only two have exceeded the
length of the pontiacate of the present
D. Hs:.,e, .H.<N Hal 17OO.
after pontifcate ofM years and eight
Church, Sylvester l., whose pontificate ex-
tended to % years and 10 months. The
pontifcate of Plus TX, has been agitated
by great storms which more than once
have been threatened to sweep away the
whole of the Temporal Power. At the
same time, however, the borders Of the
Church have been greatly enlarged, and its
organization in many countries consoli-
Dated. No fewer than 116 new dioceses,
or about one-seventh of the total number
of Catholic tlioceses, have been established
by the present Pope. Pious TX. is earnest
ly devoted to the ultra. Papal theories which
have long been traditiona1in in Rome, though
they are regarded with regret by many
within the Church, but personally he is
highly esteemed, not only BY all parties
within the Church, but by allswho have
come into personal contact with him,
The Pope is assisted in the government
of the Church by the Cardinals. Though
next to the Pope as his advisors, they are
not next to him in point Of jurisdiction,
and, therefore, in the scale of the hierar-
chy; for q Cardinal who is not at the same
time Bishop, ranks inferior to Archbish-
ops and Bishops. The College of Cardi-
nails is divided into three classes-Cardinal
Bishops, Cardinal Priests, and Cardinal
Deacons. The first of these classes COM
prises the bishops of stx Episcopal
Sees near Rome. who, however,
reside in the City of Rome. The CARDINAL
Deacons are generally officers of adminis-
tration, nR', in many cases, have not taken
priestly, though they have received the
minor, orders. The great majority of the
College, comprising in particular all the
foreign Cardinals, belong to the order of
Cardinal-Priests. The full number of
the Holy College is seventy, but the
number is rarely full. According to the
Papal Almanac for 1869, there were
in January. 1869, Cardinal Bishops, 43
Cardinal Priests, and 8 Cardinal Deacons;
together, 81; leaving 13 hats vacant, though
two new Cardinals had been reserved in
petto, but not yet announced. Two Car
tdinals having died during the year, and
none appointed, the number at present is
only S.. As usual, the majority Of them
are Italians; of non Italians there were in
December, 1869, z French, l. Spaniards. 4
Germans, and Irish. The American
countries, though now constituting very
important portion Of the territory of the
Church, arc not represented in the Holy /,
Co]lepe.-A Y. Tribune. 4