The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-04-24
The Most Significant Growth.

At a meeting Of Presbyterians at Car
negie Hall on Wednesday evening to
further the extension Of that Church in
New York the Rev. DR.. VAN DYKE re-
ferred to the fact that during the last
twenty years Presbyterianism has not
kept pace with the growth Of the town
in population and in financial and COM
mercial importance. and is not now
so great a factor for good as it was fifty
years ago; and the committee which
called the meeting reported that in Man.
haitian and The Bronx there were fewer
Presbyterian churches in 1900 than in
$780, or 81, as compared with Sc.
The Rev. DR.. LAIDLAw, the secretary
Of the Federation Of Churches and q re-
markably expert authority on the re-
ligious statistics of New York. computes
that not merely the Presbyterian Church.
but also Professionalism generally. has
not kept pace with the population. The
increase in the population of Manhattan
and The Bronx between 1900 and 1900 was
"a per cent: but Protestant commune
cants increased by 279 per cent. only
In Brooklyn the population increased by
39.1 per cent, but the Protestant COM
municants by only 29.s per cent. Mean
time the growth of the Roman Catholic
Church was greater than the growth in
population, or $50 per cent. in Manhattan
and The Bronx and 81 s per cent in Brook
Ign. This greater gain of Roman Ca
tholicism DIR. LAIDLAw attributes to the
fact that that Church is" really more mis-
sionary than our metropolitan Profess
tantism." The Roman Church STAYS by
the localities where it has begun it's
work and population remains" For ex-
ample, the Church Of the TRANSPORTATION
in Mott street. the third oldest of that
faith on Manhattan Island. continues in
that situation, but it has changed the
language of instruction from the pulpit
from English to Italian because now
dense Italian population surrounds it,.
Professionalism, on the other hand,
ssys DR.. LAJDLAw, has been trekking
mort Inward whenever new populations
have come in: and he illustrates what he
regards as the consequence BY giving
these striking comparative statistics:
The Island OF CeyIon. with 100000 people. has
90 100 Protestant communicates. or per cent. New
YORK. south OF Tenth stree, on the East side has
but 20 per cent. OF Protestant communicates among
f5ooo people Hungary Is stated by ANDREW
MOODY 81 Budapest have u per cent. OF It's popu.
la,lon p )testant members: 10 Manhattan and The
DrunI 50 per cent OF the population were Proics.
tsnt commandments In 1890 aud only SIS per cent In
1901 while In Brooklyn l3i per cent. were Prot.
1901"
Protestant sympathy, says Dr. LAID |
LAW, has been practically abandoning
its claims to be great catholic |
Church" But it is not fair to describe |
the removal of Protestant churches from |
the lower last Side district as cowardly
desertion They left because there
was no longer any demand for them
sufficient e. justify further expenditure
ofenergy and money in the district With
radical changes In the population had
come in religious prejudices hostile to
them, and 1t was wise for them to leave
the spiritual guardianship of the new
inhabitants to churches for which they
had a preference. The Roman Catholic
Church can do for the religious elevation
Of the people Of its faith what Profess
tantism cannot hope TO do.
Moreover, the greater relative growth
OF Roman Catholicism there and in the
city generally is attributable largely to
the circumstance that the immigration
OF the last ten years which was not Jewish
was almost wholly Catholic, the country
from which now the largest ia coming
being Italy. To hold these people to their
traditional religion and to incite in them
obedience to II is the most tremendous
task before the Roman Catholic Church,
for their tendency to fall away from it.
those of the generation brought
up here, is strong. Practically, when they
give up fidelity to Catholicism they aban-
don religious obeervances altogether,
and the chance Of Professionalism among