The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1899-10-28
THE WORK OF IRISH MISSIONARIES
The Progress Of Fifty Years in
Holy Name Parish.
THE CHURCH IN A HUNDRED YEARS
The United States Indebted to
Catholic Citizens.

"Cathollc Chicago was the title Of a
very eloquent address delivered by Hon.
John +. Fincrty in the Central Music
Hall, Chicago, the occasion being the
celebration OF the golden jubilee OF the
Cathedral oil the Holy Name Mr..
Fincrty said that, as far as historical
records told OF other days, following
!hc aborigincs, Catholic missionaries or
explorers first laid eyes on the great
territory OF which Chicago is the center
and metropolis. In the lar away time
OF the winter OF l674-75 the illustrious
Perc Marquette had cncamped on these
shores, and he and other intrepid path
finders and cvangclizcrs had mapped
out the ground, travcrscd the prairics
and navigatcd the great rivers that had
since been taken possession OF by men
OF a different race, who claimed, with
out Justice, all credit for civilization
and progress on the American conti-
ncnt But those carly explorers, who
had broken pathway for the swarm
ing immigrants of Il later period, were
all OF the French race and OF Catholic
faith--the heroic pioneers OF the gospel
OF liberty. (Applausc.)
They were too much i'll the habit OF
accepting the gross falsehoods OF the
so-callcd American literature OF the day,
which gave to the Anglo Saxon race
credit for the discovery and advance
mcnt, almost for the creation, OF the
American continents. But the facts OF
impartial history did not sustain these
vain assumptions. Columbus, the Gen
ocsc, backed by the money and inilu-
encc of the Spanish monarch, Fcrd-
,land, and his great consort, Isabella,
the Catholic, had dared the terrors Of
an unknown ocean and first brought
Il new world into contact with the Old
Npplausc) Another bright son Of
Italy, Amcrigo Vcspuccio, the Floren-
tine, an accomplished surveyor, gave
his name to the twin continents. Cabot,
Magellan and the other dauntcss spirits
OF the era OF western exploration had
linked their names Immortality with the
dcstnics OF the western world before
that great modern myth, the Anglo
Saxon race, was ever heard Of (Ap-
plausc) Yes, the Spaniard, the Por-
tugucsc, the Frcnchman-all had done
their part toward exploring and settling
the Americas before England made any
serious movement in that direction.
Even Hudson, the alleged English nav
igator, about whose early career SO little
is known, made his greatest American
discoveries while in the pay OF the
Dutch. .....
At the beginning OF this century
there was only one Catholic bishop in
the United States, he of Baltimore, the
Right Rev. John Carroll, kinsman OF
the intrepid patriot. whose hand wrote
at the foot OF the Declaration OF lndc-
pcndcnce, Charles Carroll, Of Carroll
ten" (Applausc.) Now they had
eighty eight dioccscs, including archdio-
ccscs and from less than hundred
thousand COMMITMENTS they had grown
to be twelve millions strong. Gap
plausc) In 1883 Chicago had less than
hundred Catholic worsllippcrs and a
single missionary priest. Now it has
an archdiocese witt, $50 priests, 2I7 par
ish churches, ,4o chapels, numerous
colleges, academies, schools, houses OF
refuge, hospitals, orphanage, and other
grand institutions, and boasts men,
bcrsfip OF 10000 souls. (Applause.)
They might we'll, indeed, be proud of
that record, and OF the able churchmcn
who had made it-from the Jealous
and indefatigablc Bishop Quarter, cut
off in the pride OF his manhood, and
the fullness OF his usefulness to God
and man, to their present patriarchal
archbishop, who scared among them,
like some grand old pillar tower OF Ire
land, buttressed in the reverential atfec-
tions OF his people. prolonged ap-
plausc.) But they were there that night
particularly to celebrate the golden and
silver jubilee, happily combined, of the
foundation of the Holy Name parish
and the establishment of the newer
cathedral Without wishing to be in
the slightest degree invidious, he would
say that among all the worthy churches
Of Chicago none deserved better of the
Catholic people than the grand parish
community so worthily presided over