The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-11-14
CATHEDHALS IN AMERICA.
New York Contains One That Has
Taken Twenty Years to Build.


From the Church Economist.
New York has the largest Roman Cath
Ollie cathedral on the continent of Amer
ica-a vast structure requiring over twen-
ty years to bring 1t to its present state of
architecture and not yet completed. And
shortly we are to have in our city another
great cathedral to be erected under the
auspices of the Protestant Episcopal
church. We hear Of still another pro-
jected in Newark. and cathedrals seem to
be springlng up over the land.
Naturally the question arises-wherein
does a cathedral differ from an ordinary
church? What is a cathedral? The word
is derived from Kathedra, which means a
raised seat; in this case the seat of a
bishop. For the cathedral is the church
in which the bishop has his seat or chair.
1t was in former times called Domus-
that is, the house (Duomo, italian; Dom,
GERMANY, meaning the house of the Lord.
And still earlier the name Matrix Ecclesia
was given TO the cathedral, but at the
present time any church which has others
subject to it can also lay claim to this
title.
In the Roman Catholic communion no
cathedral can be established without d.
rect permission from the pope, nor can a
church, collegiate or otherwise, be con-
verified into a cathedral without the same
permission. Nor can one bishop have
Jurisdiction over more than one cathedral,
OF course, temporal power has often arisen
against papal authority, as when, for
instance, in France the revolutionary
government reduced the number of do
ceses from 1876 to sixty, in opposition to the
vatican. However, had the revolution
lists asked, PERMISSION might have been
granted for so doing, inasmuch as the au-
thoritieS of the church are often willing
to yield to the demands of the times.
Old sees are often suppressed. BY the
concordat with Napoleon in 1903 Rome
sanctioned the notification of a large num-
Der of bishoprics, in consequence of which
France from that time has contained only
about eighty-fve episcopates, instead of
the 1876 existing before the revolution.
Analogous changes are provided for In
the Anglican communion by the theory of
the royal supremacy, though this theory
has been modified somewhat by the pro-
gress Of political demands. In the AngIi-
can church the sovereign Is still supreme
"in all causes and over all persons, eccles-
iastical as well as CIVIL
The sovereign still has the title of De-
fender of the Faith" though the absolute
power thus vested is somewhat curtailed
by the parliament, which has right to
condemn or uphold the will of the ruler
But, for the most part, parliament and
head act conformity, and both have often
wiped out old and set up new sees. In Ire
land ten Protestant bishoprcs were sup
pressed at one stroke by act Of parliament,
and also several suffragan sees in Eng
land. But with the Roman church the
power of suppressing or creating a cathe-
dral see rests with the pope alone.
When cathedral is once established
there are certain laws laid down for it's
government The council of Trent forbids
the holding of more than one cathedral
church or the holding of a cathedral along
with parish church by the same bishop.
1t also enjoins that the ordinations of min
listers shall be publicly celebrated in ca
thedrals. The bishop must be present In
his own cathedral at such ceremonies as
necessitate the services of a bishop. He
cannot name deputy unless there is a CO.
adjutor in the diocese. Neither has the
bishop absolute control of the cathedral
funds AS I'm all other churches, he Is vot-
ed certain yearly stipend The cathe-
dral differs in no respect from other
churches beyond the fact Of the bishops
chair being located there.