The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1889-10-03
The Coming Celebration of the Establishment
, of the Hierarchy Hailed as the Auspicious
Opening of q New Century.
Triennial Convention of the Protestant
Episcopal Church of America.
Argument of Ex-President McCosh, of Prince
ton College, in Favor of Revising the Pres
byterian Confession of Faith.
THE CATHOLIC HIERARCHY.


Pastoral Letter from Cardinal Gibbons Con-
cerning the One -Hundredth Anniversary.
BALTIMoRn6 Oct 2.-The pastoral letter
of Cardinal Gibbons on the celebration of
the one-hundredth anniversary of the estab-
lishment of the Catholic hierarchy in the
United States has been furnished the Asso-
ciated Press by the publishers, John Muir
ply a. Co. Following are passages from the
paper:
The Catholic religion subsists and expands
under oil forms Of government and adapts itself
to all times, and places, and circumstances, ana
this she does without any compromise OF prlncl-
pie or any derogarion from the supreme author,
1ty OF the church or any shock to the individual
are eternal and immutable, the discipline
of the church Is changeable. just as
man himself is ever the same in his essential
characteristics, while his dress varies according
to the fashion of the times.
Thanks to the blessings of an overruling
Providence and to the beneficent character of
civil and political institutions, the population
of the United States has grown within century
from four to sixty-five millions of people, as
face of the earth. And thanks to the fructifying
influence Of the Holy Spirit and to the liberty
we enjoy, the progress of the church has more
the country. There is now embraced in the ter
ritory of the United States a Catholic population
of about 100000. There are 13 archbishops
and chape1s, 81 seminaries, exclusively
devoted to the training of candidates for the
sacred ministry There are ar 600 colleges ana 10
both sexes, and 3, 100 parish schools. There are
$50 hospitals and orphan asylums, where every
form of human misery and infirmityi is alleviated
and where children of both sexes are rescued
from temporal wretchedness and are reared TO
become useful and honorable members OF So
ciety.
But while we rejoice in the numerical strength
OF the Catholic religion we rejoice still more that
far from betraying any symptoms OF religious
church exhibits an organic vitality, an exuber-
ant spirit a vigorous activity and sturdy
growth, which afford well-founded hope of un-
limited expansion in the future. But we re-
joice in the growth of the Catholic religiO n
not for our own sakes only, for that would he a
on broader grounds. We rejoice for our coun-
try's sake, firmly believing that the progress OF
Christian faith will contribute to the stability
and perpetuity of the government In this coun-
try the citizen happily enjoys the broadest ex-
ercises of personal freedom. But the wider the
scope OF the liberty, the more efficient should be
the safeguards to prevent it from being abused
and degenerating into license. The Catholic
Church Is the friend of law and order; she Is the
upholder of legitimate authority; she is the
Of oppression on the other, and by her conserva-
ys spirit sa she Naton il an inaess
claim loyalty TO government like ours
is, as it ought to be- spontaneous act of love,
well as duty to all who preach the gospel. For,
III Ill the DAYS OI Nero the tpOSt6S
that the ruler should be honored and prayed for,
and that his ordinances should be observed.
with what alacrity should we enj0in respect for
the constituted authorities, who are the people g
which were framed with the sole view of pro-
noting the welfare happiness OF the CON-
We hail it as an ausI ous omen that the new
century will be inaug,-Iated by the opening OF
tury was ushered in by the founding of George
town College, and as Plus vi gave an impetus to
religion in 1850 by the creation of the Catholic
hierarchy among us, so does Leo XIII inspire us
with renewed hope in 1889, by giving his august
sanction to tho establishment OF our national
seat of learning. Thus Plus has planted, Leo
watered; may Ged give the increase And we
the Lord will deign to ratify the blessing of
Leo, as he has abundantly confirmed the
blessing of Plus, for these two venerable pontifs
haze % spoken as the highest Tt OF
u.s." whose name across the chasm of nineteen
centuries is living power, and who is daily
shedding benedictiOn on the nations that invoke
Him.
We take great pleasure in announcing to you
that a benevolent interest in the pproaching
celebration is manifested by the l. crarchy of
the United States, and even OF those of other
lands. Seventy-three archbishops and bsh-
ops have already signified their intention
of honoring us by their presence. Nearly
every state and Territory of the Union will be
represented on the occasion. A large number of
Canadian prelates have also promised to attend,
the Cardinal, Archbishop of Quebec. Even our
sister republic of Mexico will be represented by
two or more prelates. In a letter lately received
the sovereign pOntif expresses his gracious in
tention of sending church dgnitary from Rome
to represent the Holy See at the Baltimore and
Washington festivities. The archbishop com
missioned by the holy father is not only an EN-.
inent divine, but Is honored with the personal
friendship of his HOlIeSS himself.