The times., 1898-10-13
MEETING OF ARCHBISHOPS
MOnsignor Chapelle Appoint
ed Delegate to Cuba.
4 MESSAGE FROM ROME
The Problem of the Future of Catho-
lfcfty in the queen of the Antilles
Is Partly solved by the Pope's I'm
expected appointment Routine
of the Dig nitaritfes.

Archbishops OF the United States was
held yesterday, in Mcmahon Hall, at the
Catholic University. His Eminence James
Cardinal Gibbons. Archbishop OF Ba.ti-
more. presiding. The others in attend
ance were the Most Rev. j. j. Kain
Archbishop of st. Louis; the Most Rev.
John j. Williams, Archbishop of Boston:
the Most Rev. Patrick Feehan. Archbish-
op of Chicago; the Most Rev. William H.
Elder, Archbishop of Cincinnati; NJ A
Corrigan. Archbishop of New York; the
Most Rev. p. j, Ryan, Archbishop Of
Philadelphia; and the Most Rev. Frederic
X. Katzer. Archbishop of Milwaukee.
Archbishop Keane. of Damascus. for
mer rector of the University. was pres
ent, but being only titular bishop. did
not take part in the deliberations. A CHI
bishop Kain acted as secretary Arch
bishop Katzer did not arrive al the uni
yersity until shortly before the noon re-
cess. The absent ones were Archbishop
Gross. of Oregon City, Ore; Archbishop
Ireland. of ST. Paul; Archbishop RioGdan.
of San Francisco. and Archbishop Cha
pelle, Of New Orleans, who Is now in Eu-
rope.
Home's Delegate to Cuba.
Only routine matters relating TO the
church in the United States were dis
cussed. and the session itself developed
little Of interest. An important matter
came before the meeting, however. in the
shape of cablegram from Paris an
nouncing the appointment by the p Pc OF
Archbishop Chapelle as apostle tc de e.
gate to Cuba. The cab.esram was from
Mgr. Chapeile himself and was ad-
dressed 10 Cardinal Gibbons, who read it
to the archbishops during the moraing
! session.
The appointment is an important one.
inasmuch as it will decide the question Of
the policy of the Church of Rome anent
the reconstruction of its branch in Cuba.
Cathoiicity having been the religion OF the
Spanish government and stiI being the
religion of the people of Cuba, there has
been considerable discussion as to the
probable action OF the heads of the
church in regard to the changes necessi-
tated by the new conditions in the An
titles. and 1t was expected that the arch
bishops would take some action in the
matter al the meeting yesterday.
The power Of that body being limited,
however. they could do no more than dis
cuss the conditions in an informal man
ner and even this was not done officially.
The news of the appointment Of Arch
bishop Chapelle gave general satisfac-
ton and was fayorably commented upon
by Cardinal Gibbons and the archbish-
ops.
Although Porto Rico is in the eccle-
siastical province OF Santiago, and the
city OF that name is the seat OF the arch
bishop, no reference was made TO il, and
Archbishop's Chapeile's new mission Is
confined 10 Cuba alone. This is due 10
the fact that Porto Rico is already in
effect American territory. while Cuba
will in all probability, have an independ-
ent government of it's own Archbishop
Chapelle will retain his position in the
American hierarchy as Archbishop of
New Orleans, his new honor being mere
ly IAN additional burden as one of the
archblshops expressed It yesterday.
He will act as a mediator between the
clergy and hierarchy in Cuba in all mat
tiers of church dissension. and will be
court of appeals to which matters may be
appealed from the bishop or archbishop
for settlement Except in matters of ex-
traordinary Importance his decision in
such cases will be final.
Status of the Church in Cuba.
IIc appointment IL III AAAit Win RAttN-
dents established by the church. notably
in the case OF Bishop Rosseti. of St.
Louis who was made apostolic delegate
to the republic of Haiti after that island
achieved its independence. Several of
the South American republics too, have
been similarly favored by the church
In the present instance il is made nee
essary by the new state of affairs, which
- -
ference of opinion between the clergy and
the hierarchy in the island. This was due
to the fact that during the revolution
many of the clergy We're in open Sympa-
thy with the insurgents, and aided them
as far as il lay In their power. while the
Archbishop of Santiago and the Bishop of
Havana We're. of course. loyal TO Spain.
The expressed wishes of the hierarchy
were aften disregarded by the clergy. re-
suting in the intiiction of penalt,e ,es which.
although they felt them To be unjust the
clergy were compelled to submit to-
This has brought about an unsettled
condition of the church in the island,
and it will be Archbishop Chapene's task
to effect a settlement of differences and
bring about a spirit of unity and peace
In the opinion of his colleagues he is
eminently fitted for the work He is a
master of Spanish, understands the peo-
thorough American. and familiar with
international politics.
Archbishop CbapeIie.
In addition to his mental attainment
he has a charming personality. He is
genial and courteous and is one of the
ablest theologians in the church. He is
especially we'll known in Washington.
having been at one time pastor of st.
Matthews Church here and was presi-
dent of the theological conference held
here before he was made Archbishop OF
Sante Fe.
He was born in August, 1872. in the dio-
cese of Mende. in France where his
early education was received. When he
was seventeen years old he came to this
country, entering st. Mary's Seminary,
Baltimore, as a theological student At
the completion of his studies, being too
young for ordination, he became a pro-
fessor in St Charles College, Ellicott
City. remaining there for two years. He
was ordained in 1865 for the Baltimore
diocese and his first work was in Mont
gomery County where he had charge of
several missions.
While holding that position he passed a
brilliant examination for the degree OF
doctor of divinity, which was conferred
upon him by his alma mater, st. Mary's
College, in 1868. Two years later he was
made assistant rector of st. Johns
Church, Baltimore, and afterwards be-
came pastor of st. Joseph's Church. In
1882 upon the death of the Rev. DIR.
Boyle, Mgr. Chapelle succeeded him as
pastor of st. Matthew's Church in this
city.
In 1891 Archbishop Salpointe asked for
the appointment of a coadjutor. who
should succeed him, and Mgr. Chapelle
was appointed He was consecrated at
the Baltimore Cathedral on All Saints
Day of the same year. by Cardinal Glib