Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-01-13
MARVELLOUS GROWTH.
The Catholic Church, Which Had but
44,5G0 Adherents in America,
ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO,
Now Embraces a Population of Considera-
bly, Over 100000 Souls.
IMPORTANT FACTS OFFICIALLY STATED
ESPECIAL TELEGRAM TO THE DIsPATCH.1

| ESPECIAL TELEGRAM TO THE DIsPATCHI
NEW YORK, January 1.-THE Catholic
Directory for 1885, just issued, is more
than usually interesting, from the fact
that this is the centennial year of
the establishment of the Roman Catholic
hierarchy in the United States The figures
have been furnished by the Diocesan Chan
cellors, so that the statement that the Catho-
lie population numbers s, ,157 ,656 souls must
| pass without question. The number of
priests is placed at S,11S-2.0OS regulars
and Clio seculars. They attend 1858
churches, 2,770 stations and 1,4S0 chapels.
There are 199 orphan asylums, caring
for-it is estimated-about q, 900 orphans.
There are 80 theological seminaries, with
1870 students, 125 colleges and 549 acad-
emies; and 2,799 parochial schools, with
597, 1876 scholars. Chicago has the largest
number of scholars in its parochisl
schools - AZ, 0S7 II more than twice as
many proportionately to population
as New York. Brooklyn has the largest
number of orphan asylums, excepting Bos-
ton and Baltimore-each exceeding it by
one-but Brooklyn in its nine asylums
SoASS AOA ACoiAs GnlCC ds uduy Phn@o 10
both, the number being 1851.
There are Is archdioceses in the United
States with 60 sufragen sees, vicarates
and prefecture apostolic. These are gov
erned by 13 archbishops and 73 bishops, a
few of the latter being coadjutors, who, with
the Wears apostolic have titular sees in
infdel countries. Administrators rule in
the vacant sees of Natchez, Miss, and
Richmond, Va, and s mitered abbots have
sway over that number of religious COM
munitieS.
CATHOLICS IN THE BIG CITIES.
According to the directory there are |
100000 Catholics in New York and |
Brooklyn dioceses-S00, 900 of them belong |
ing to the New York see Albany diocese |
counts $4,000, Buffalo 142, ,136, Newark |
100000, Trenton 81, 1000, Ogdensburg 63, 500,
Syracuse 100, 900, and Rochester 77,OOO-so
that in the province of New York-com-
prising the States of New York and New
Jersey there are 1,759 656 adherents to the
Catholic Church. From this it will be seen
that more than one-ffth of the Catholic
population of the United States find homes
in the States of New York and New Jersey
In the State of Pennsylvania there are
761 ,231 Catholics, divided among the five
sees as follows: Philadelphia, 400, 900; Erie,
10000; Harrisburg, 36, 231; Scranton, 10000,
and Pittsburg and Allegheny, 1851 600. This
demonstrates that the last mentioned diocese
could stand a partition into the two sees of
which it is composed-an event, however,
that will not come to pass while Bishop
Tuigg is alive. In point of numbers of
priests and churches it shows up as we'll,
having 210 of the former and 1873 of the lat
ter-running close to the Archiepiscopal see
of Philadelphia, which has 2S3 priests and
149 churches, and almost eqnallng the COM
bined strength of the three other sees, which
are as follows: Erie, 70 priests and 104
churches; Harrisburg, SO priests and 80
churches; Scranton, 81 priests and S3
churches. The Diocese of Pittsburg and
Allegheny has "a parochial schools and d.
500 pupils-as many schools as the Phila-
delphia see, though 800 less pupils. Erie
has So schools, Harrisburg "a and Scranton
%, but the sum total of their scholars falls
1881 short OF reaching the number in the
schools of Pittsburg and Allegheny.
A CENTURY's GROWTH.
These figures show remarkable growth
compared with those of 100 years ago, when,
at the establishment of hierarchy the Cath
olic population of the United States num-
bered but "A, 500. The figures of that time
were collected for the Holy See. and the
division was announced as follows: "There
are in New England about 600; New York
and New Jersey, 1,700; Pennsylvania and
Delaware, 200; Maryland-freemen, 12-
600, slaves, 10000, 900; at the Illinois, at
Kaskaskia and several other establishments,
purely French, on the Mississippi, u, ,O00.''
1t will be seen from this that the Catholic
Centennial, which will be observed on No
vember 6, 1889, will look back upon progress
that not every denomination can pride
itself on. The dedication of the new Cath
olic University on this occasion will ap-
propriately conclude the ceremonies attend
ing the Inauguration of another century
whose promise is proportionate to the ex-
pectations of hierarchy.
A glance at the names of the bishops in
the Catholic Directory impresses one with
the idea that the Catholic Church in the
United States is principally indebted to
Ireland for the preIates whose zeal and
ability have made the record it is her priv
ilege to boast of to-day. That this has al
ways been the case is shown in the state
ment of John Culinary Shea, in his History
of the Catholic Church in the United
States OF the III deceased prelates whose
biographies it contains 80 were born in Ire
land and considerable number of the
others were sons of Irish parents. An in
vestigation of the ancestry of living prelates
indicates that the hierarchy, as at present
constituted, leaves very few of Ireland's
counties unrepresented.
A FEW NOTED NAMES.
James Cardinal Gibbons is the son of
Irish parents, as also was his predecessor in
this important ofice-the late John Cardinal
McCloskey. 1t might be added that the |
early education of the second American
Cardinal was impaired to him in the land of
his foretathers, and that his memories low
ingly linger in the green wales of his boy
hood. Most Rev. Michael Augustine Cor
rigan is the son of an Irish rebel, and the
stately Archbishop of Chicago, Most Rev.
P. A. Feehan, is one of ''the matchless men
of Tipperary." The oldest of the American
in point of years and service, is
the Most Rev. Peter Kendrick, Archbishop
of st. Louis, who was born 80 years ago in
the city of Dublin. The Archbishop of
Philadelphia, Most Rev. P. j. RYAN, is a
native of Thurles-the home of the patriotic
Archbishop Croke, the Crock of Cashel,''
as is also Rt. Rev. Thomas Bopacum. |
Bishop of Lincoln, Neb.
Rt. Rev. John Loughlin, of BROOKLYN,
has been given two different birthplaces by
as many authorities. One says he was born
in Tyrone, another saws in Down, and the
good Bishop himself once remarked to an
inquisitive reporter that his memory didn't
extend back far enough to Justify him
speaking authoritatively in correction. Rt.
Rev. Patrick A. Ludden, of Syracuse. and
Rt. Rev. Patrick O'Reilly of Springfield.
Mass, are both natives of Cavan, and Rt.
Rev. William O'Hara, of Scranton, was
born in Londonderry.
BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES,
Ri. Rev. Lawrence Scanlon, of Salt Lake
CITY, comes from Cork, and has affectionate-