Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1869-12-20
EcUMENIcAL COUNCIL.
Personnel: Of the Great Ecclesiastical
AsssmbIy---Sketch Of The Hierarchy Of
the Roman Catholic OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
be Considered.


Conception. No similar cOnvOcatlOn
of the higher prelates and fathers OF
the Church has taken place since the
Council Of Trent, three hundred years
ago. aud it IS therefore an event Of the
highest importance, not only to 10
man Catholics, but TO the inhabitants
Of the whole world.
The Catholic hierarchy has Often
enlisted the admiration OF many who
were strangers or even opponents 10
the Catholic creed. 1t is the only
monarchy among the great religious
examinations of the world. Neither
the Greek Church, nor a single one OF
the Protestant bodies, nor judaism (
nor MOhamedanism, nor any other /.
nOu-Christianism form of belief has a |
monarehial head. The present Pope, /
Plus TX. was born on May IS, 1872, I
and Is therefore now in his 18th year. /
n the list Of bishops or Rome, a. Is /.
Given in the official Papal Almanac, /.
he Is accounted the 251th. Like all MS I
predaeessors during the last 800 years, /
he is an Italian by birth; the last non /
italian Pope having been ADRIAN IL, I
yrbA was a HOllander, and died IN 1873. 4
of All the bishops Of Rome only 40 I
were nOn-Iralians, and Of these l3 4
were Frenchmen, 7 Germans, and , I
SpsniarIs. The P0HtiicaJe Of Plus /
*. is one OF the longest on record. /
Having been elected on the l6tn OF .
June. 1876, he has occupied the PapaI .
chair for > years and SIX months. IL .
Is a well-knOwn legend-the correct
ness Of which however, even most OF .
the Catholic Church historians are not /
willing 70 delend-that St. Peter was
Bishop Of the Roman congregation f.
for frlI . wears, and with this legend .
q common expectation mas connected
itself. that no following Pope viii oc-
cupv the apostolic chair an equal
length of time, until the last Pope,
under whose pontificate this world
will come to an end. Certain II Is
that no Pope. so far Is documentary
history has been traced, has ruled for
. wears. Only two have exceeded
the length Of the pOnuhcate OF the
present Pope, namely: Plus IL, VINO
died in 1893, after a pOntihcate OF a
wears and eight months, and IN the
earlier history Of the Church, SilYes-
ter L, whose pUntilcate extended 10
. wears aud ten months. The pOnuh-
cate Of Plus TX. has been agItated by
great storms which more than once
have threatened 10 sweep away the
whole OF the Temporal Power. At
the same time, however, the borders
of the Church have been greatly en-
Isrged. and its organizations in many
countries consolidated. No fewer
than lis new diOceses, or about one
seventh OF the total number Of CathO-
lie diocesas, haYe been established by
the PRESENT. Pope.
The Pope is assisted in the govern
ment of the Church by the College Of
Cardinals, which consists Of seventy
members when full, but there are
several vacant hats at present, which
viii probably be filed this winter.
The best known members of the Holy ,
College are LuCie1 BOnaparJe, g cousin I
Of the French Emperor; Prince :
berg, Archbishop O-Prague;
Prince HOhenlOlle, q brother OF the I
Prime Minister of Bavaria; Count
Reisach, who is now one of the SIX
Cardinal Bishops. OF the other Car
dinals, Archbishop BOnald, Of Lyons,
Archbishop Rauscher, Of Vienna, and
Archbishop Cullen Of Dublin, have
occupied a prominent position IN tne
recent history Of the Church, and are ,
widely known.
There are twelve principal Arch
DLHLLlL-r 4tD dAE NnA4EAA I G-LA III A4l1. .
These rule over the branches of the
Church in whole nations ana groups {
of nations. Under these are l3y arch.
bishoprics and 723 bishoprics, and a
large number Of diOceses ~ DUrtibuS,
or without heads, making altogether
gSl diOceses in the Catholic hierarchy. ;
IN the United States we have seven
archbishOprics, held by the follow
ing preiates:
Most Rev. Martin John Spalding,
Archbishop Of Baltimore; cOnsecrated s
September 10, 1875; formerly Bishop
of Louisville; transferred to Baltimore
May G, 1864.
Most Rev. John II. Purcell, Arch ,
bishop Of Cincinnati; cOnsecrated Oc-
tOber l3, 1883.
Most Rev. John N. Odin, Arch
bishop of New Orleans; cOnsecraJed
March 6, 1872; transferred to New Or
leans in 1851.
Most Rev. John McCloskey, Arch J
bishop OF New York; cousecrated ?
March 10, ISL; transferred to New 9
York May 6, 1861.
Most Rev. Francis \. Blanchet, a
Archbishop Of Oregon; cOnsecrated
July 3, 1915.
Most Rev. Peter B. Aeurick, Arch j
bishop OF ST. Louis; cOnsecrated Nov.
80, ls4l.
Most Rev. Joseph S. Alemeny,
Archbishop Of san Francisco; cOnse- b
Grated June 10. 1880; transferred to
san Francisco July ., 1873.
Under these there are fOrty-siX suf- 6
fragan ,bishOprics, one Of which is
over Philadelphia, and the Right Rev. j
James Frederick Wood is the Bishop. 9
This gentleman and Bishop Bailey, Of
Newark, y. J., are converts from the +
Protestant faith.
Besides Cardinals, Patriarchs, Arch .
bishops and Bishops, also the Gener-
ais of MOnastc Orders and the mitred
Abbots have a right Of admission to
the Council. According 10 a recent 5
statement made by the POntitcal J
Chamberlain, there are % Abbots and
81 Generals Of Orders. Hardly any Of ,
them have a literary name; hardly Z
any, be believe, except, perhaps, 5
Father Recks, the General OF the Jes- :
uits), will be better known, even in .
Europe, than Father Hecker, the Su-
periOr of the American PaUlists. But,
though well-knOwn, these Generals :
represent a considerable army. Re S
ligiOus orders, OF both men and wO- Z
men, are again making rapid prog 5
ress. In the United States, in Eng
Land, in all the States Of Germany, :
Especially IN Prussia IN France, the
number of mOuaSterleS is increasing
with great ce}erity. The FTaBcisc8ns s
again claim $1,000 members; the Do
minicans, 1900; the JesUits, 500; the s
Garmelites, 400; the Trappists, 1000
the IaZariJes, 20O; the Parists, 300:
the RedemptOrists, 1000; the female
orders together, 10000. d
This Council is called the First Z
Council Of the Vatican, and viii pass
iRto history as the twenty-irst Ecu ,
Inenicsl Council Of the Church, count /
ing from the first held 1T Nice in the
wear 3Z5 to the last Council OF Trent,
The twentieth which met in the year +
I545 and terminated its sitting In the
wear 1863, three hundred and six years
since. This last named Council was s
convoked by Pope Paul the Third and G
continued under Julius the Third and
Plus the Fourth; the present by John
Maria Mastai Ferretti, the two hun ,
dred and fity-eighth POntif from st. ]
Peter-accepting the Catholic version :
of Peters position after the death OF
our Lord 8nd SaViOr-WhO was vested I
with the triple tiara, the keys and the
sword i'm the year 1916.
The twenty EcUmenical Councils
which have preceded this, the first
Council of the Vatican, may be reca- I
pitulated In the following order Of +
enumeration as to the period Of their !
a assemblage aud results:
The Council Of Nice (325), against :
A -. reFF Ffr,v.