The times., 1899-10-09

Tomorrow, Wednesday. and Thursday the
body of the Catholic Church known as the
Board of Archbishops will be in session
at the Catholic University. Several Of the
members are also trustees of that insti-
tuition, and they will meet separately to
discuss the particular needs of the uni
versity, which has just begun its eleventh
scholastic year under favorable auspices.
A more than ordinary attendance Of the
Archbishops of the United States is ex-
pected. Archbishop Riordan, of San Fran
cisco, has been in the East for more than
a week preparing the subjects he intends
to present for consideration of the board.
The president of the council is Cardinal
Gibbons Archbishop John Joseph Will
liams, of the archdiocese of Boston, who
was consecrated in 1866. is the dean: the
secretary is Archbishop j. ]. Kain, of the
| archdiocese of st. Louis. and the treasurer
is Archbishop F. X. Katzer, Of the arch
diocese of Milwaukee. The members of
the council, including the officers, are
Archbishop Patrick A. Feehan, OF the
archdiocese of Chicago; Archbishop VIII
liam II. Elder. of the archdiocese of Gin
cinnati: Archbishop John Hennesy, of the
archdiocese of Dubuque. Iowa: Archbishop
Placidus Chapelle, of the archdiocese of
| New Orleans; Archbishop Michael Corri-
gan of the archdiocese of New York;
! Archbishop Frederick John Ryan, of the
archdiocese of Philadelphia; Archbishop
John Ireland, of the archdiocese of st.
Paul.
Matters to Be Considered.
| Among the first matters to BE- considered
viii he TIE invitation of Pope Leo XIII,
sent individually to the Archbishops. to
convene in Rome as a body to take part
/ in the ceremonies incident to the Holy
Year, which has been proclaimed for 1909,
to give thanks for the blessings OF the
nineteenth century. and pray for the same
measure of progress throughout the TWEEN
| tieth century. The Archb.shops cannot, 1t
is believed, arrange their affairs so that
the whole body may be absent fion the
! United States at the same time. Many OF
the most prominent have just completed
| lengthy visits to Rome, and it will be al
most impossible to permit their archdio-
cases to be again without their presence.
| 1t is now thought that the board will Sc
/ lect one of its members to go to Rome as
the representatives of the who,e. Car
dinal Gibbons viii probably be chosen for
| that position.
| The coming meeting will be the first OF
| the Archbish0ps since the publication of
the Pope's letter on Americansm, which
severely condemned certain alleged ten
| Gencies in the American Church. Prom
! inent ecclesiastics have repeatedly stated
that the Board of Archbishops would
draft formal reply to this letter, but at
| this date there is not even remote pos
| sibiiity that such action will be taken.
The prelates of the Church have long since
expressed their views upon this letter in
direct individual correspondence with the
Vatican and probably the only formal no
tice which will be taken of the letter will
| be to learn each others attitudes No con-
certed action will be undertaken.
Grother GabrieI-Mnrie's Order.
The order Of Brother Gabriel Marie, the
French superior Of the Christian Brothers.
prohibiting that community from teaching
the classics in their schools, viii be care
fully and thoroughly considered. Since
the publication of the order the Archbish-
| ops delegated Bishop Byrne, of Nashville,
10 go to Rome and lay before the propa-
| ganda the unanimous appeal of the Amer
| even the business OF that command. He
| was commissioned to state that il the
| Christian Brothers were prohibited from
| teaching the classics in their schools and
! compelled to restrict themselves TO par
ochRl education, an almost impossible task
! of reorganization would be imposed on the
Bishops and Archbishops of the country.
| He was further instructed to state that
the terms destroyed the greater value of a
plant valued al more than $40. 1000, 900; be-
| sides this, that there were not sufficient
| number Of men available from the other
! teaching orders of the Church in this eoan-
| try to supply the gap almost Immediately
| created by the restriction imposed upon
| the Brothers.
Bishop Byrne performed this task Since
his return TO the United States last sum
mer he has refused to divulge even to the
| Christian Brothers the full results of his
| mission. 1t is known, however, that his
efforts were not wholly successful. At
the meeting of the Archbishops he will lay
before them a yoluminous brief covering
the whole matter, his presentation of the
case, the reply Of the Propaganda Eide,
and his recommendations of future action.
This viii be fully discussed by the board
and a committee appointed to draft, in
| regular shape, its resolutions, and an ap-
| peal direct to the Pope that il it is i'm
possible to extend the dispensation OF the
| Brothers permanently that term OF
! about twenty years be given them in which
| TO terminate the business Of their col
leges and prepare the men now engaged
| IN higher educational work for the per-
formance of parochiai duty as teachers Of
the primary grades This subject will be
the principal work of the conference
To Fund the Church Property Debt.
One of the most interesting propositions
to be presented to the prelates will be
the offer OF certain European capitalists
to fund the whole OF the mortgages upon
church and all religious institutions at a
uniform rate of per cent per annum. 1t
is the rare exception among the churches
that they are not mortgaged Iaore
or less heavily. These mortgages bear in
terest at from 6 to s per cent. The pre-
vailing rates OF solid funded debts in
Europe is less than 3 per cent. There
fore these European capitalists stimuli
taneousIy endeavoring TO materially assist
the churches and secure valuable invest
ment for their money. This plan will be
seriously proposed for the consideration
of the board. Bishop Wiggar, OF Orange,
N j., is the principal advocate of this
| proposition, but it will, in all probability,
| be presented and advocated before the pre-
lates by Archbishop Katzer, of Milwaukee.
AS outlined by its advocates the plan is
| very feasible.
The Philippine Question.
Archbishop Katzer and Archbishop
Elder vii also lead in the discussion of the
Philippine question. The idea that the