The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1891-04-04
MINNEAPOLIS AND PAUL. SATURDAY, APRIL
land see relieved him of the RESPONSE
bilitv OF doing 80.


bilitv OF doing 80.
The creation of these three dl0ceses
Hartford. Burlington and Portland
left Massachusetts alone subject to the
jurisdiction of Bishop Fjtzpotrick. and
that was still the area of the diocese
when Archbishop Williams was conse'
Grated it's fourth ordinary twenty five
years ago this week. Bishop Williams
was not long in discovering, though,
that Massachusetts itself was too large
a territory for any one prelate to prop
erlv oversee it's churches, especially as
those edidces were rapidly multiplying
IN number every wear; and hence when
he went to Rome in 1859; to attend the
sessions of the Vatican council which
assembled that year, he urged upon the
cardinals Of the Propaganda the crea-
tion OF another diocese. within the
state lines, and the result Of his rec
ommendation was the appointment of
Right Rev. Patrick L. o. Belly of St.
Johns Church, Worcester, to be first
bishop of Springfield. This division Of
his diocese relieved DIR. Williams OF the
care Of all the churches located IN the
five western counties Of the common.
wealth, and left the Boston see pretty
compact,
Two years subsequently,, however,
the Hartford diocese, the first off shoot
OF the Boston see. demanded a division
of it's territory, Bishop Mcfarland,
then the incumbent of the episcopate.
finding the care of the churches in
Rhode Island and Connecticute too
heavy burden to be longer borne.
Were Rhode island a larger common
wealth than it is, the chances are that
the division OF the Hartford diocese
which followed would not have affected
tbs Boston see. Roger Williams
plantations alone, however, as the
Catholic church existed there nineteen
years ago, were not considered ample
enough to constitute a respectable epis"
cOpate. and, consequently, the Boston
see was again asked to part with por~
tion Of it's territory for che benefit of
the then contemplated Providence blsh-
opric. Bristol and Barnstable counties,
a portion Of Plymouth, Nantucket,
Dukes and adjacent islands were,
therefore. IN 1879. withdrawn from the
jurisdiction ct Bishop Williams and
handed over to the care of Right Rev.
Thomas r. Hendricken, who in April of
that year. Was cOnsecrated tho first
bishop OF Providence. This last divi
sion left the Boston diocese as it exists
10 day, and as it Is likelv to exist for
years TO come, whatever new divisions
may be ordered in New England being
more apt to effect the $50 Of Springfield
and Hartford than the archdiocese.
Hartford, as has already been seen
was the first of the offshoots of the
Boston ses TO undergo subdivision.
By right OF rank, Burlington. which be
came a bishopric next In order. ought
fo have been the second see to ask for
subdivision. Catholic growth up in
Vermont, however, has nOG been as
rapid as IN some OF the other eastern
states, and hence Cortland, which did
not receive episcopal honogs until two
years after. Or. De Goesbriand had
been mtred, has petitioned for sub
division before che Green Mountain see.
Bishop Healy. the second preiate of
the Forest city, was che ordinary to
recommend this division, which was
duly ordered by Rome seven gears ago.
when Manchester WAS made an eDisco
pal city, and Right Rev. Denis M.
bradley was named for the first incum-
bent of the new see, whose boundaries
are those OF the state Of New Hamp
shire. 1t will thus be seen that during
the eighty three years OF it's existence
the diocese over which Archbishop
five divisions. in 1914. 1858, 1855 1870
and 1872, which directly affected It's ex
tent; and seen two Of Che eplscopates
thus formed subdlvidad in their turn.
lue Ou.CUtAo Ol Au0sc ultlSlOu5 Is LudC.
where in all New England. III Bishop
Cheverus' time. there was Onl7 diocese,
there are now seven, Boston. Hartford,
Burlington, Portland, Sprlngtield, Prov
idence and Manchester, naming them
in the order of their erection, and over
all these sees the present arch bishop Of
Boston exercises the jurisdiction of a
metropolitan, he being the first New
England prelate to attain that dignity;
Bishops Cheverus. FenWick and Fltz
patrick, his predecessors in this eit7,
having ALWAYS been suffraRaus of either
the Baltimore or New Y ork archbishoDs
and it was not until 1850. in Dr, Hughes
time, that the latter diocese attained
metropolitan rank With five other
New England sees though. surrounding
it, as was the case in 1875. Rome came
to the conclusion that Boston was de-
serving of archiepiscopal honors, and,
consequently, a pallium was that year
sent to DR.. Williams, and the province
Nar ,rx1o rolr1 inf