The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-03-01
BON DIS
CATHOLIC CHURCH NEWS
AN IRISH MONK MAY BE PLACED AT
HEAD OF THE FRANCIsCANs.
Rev. David Fleming Favored by the
Pope for Minister GeneraI-An
Artists Dilemma.

Special to the Indianapolis Journal.
NEW YORK, Feb. 28.-It is said that the
Rev David Fleming. an Irish monk and
one OF the three English-speaking members
Of Pope Leo Kills recent Bible commits
sion, is most likely of any to succeed the
late Father Lauer as minister general of
the Franciscans- He is at present the vicar
general and is counted as among the most
brilliant scholars and statesmen Ireland
has given to the Roman Catholic Church.
Promotion does not always follow to the
vicar general. however, and the new min
lister general may prove to be the present
procurator general, Father Pietro, an Ital-
ian. Should the honor come to America, as
it may, the selection would unquestion-
ably be Father Hugoline Storff, provincial
of the St Louis jurisdiction The election
takes place on Pentecost Sunday. and is by
the provincials of the Franciscan order
throughout the world. In this country
there three provincials, those of ST.
Louis, Cincinnati and Paterson, N. j. The
order is that of the Friars Minor, and in
the United States there are Minor Pro-
vincials, Franciscan Brothers, Poor Broth
of st. Francis, besides some smaller or
carnations of the name.
Pope Plus TX once asked a famous artist
10 paint portrait of St. Francis of As
sis as he. the artist, assumed him to have
looked. Now all the Franciscans, divided
into something like a dozen bodies, claim
each to be the real order founded by the
great ST. Francis. So TO the famous painter
each minister general sent trusted ennis
saries, with the request that the artist put
upOn the st. Francis of the portrait to be
the robes of his particular organization.
The distracted artist, at his wits end to
know what TO do, solved the problem by
pOrtraying upon the wall or background of
his picture all the robes OF all the organiza-
tons. Then. as he must cover ST Francis
somehow, he put him in bed and covered
him with the bedclothes. The picture may
be seen even now in the Vatican. The Fran
escans. one of the four great orders of
the church, have charge of the shrines in
the Holy Land, and it is monks of their
order that one sees at the altar of the
churches of the Holy Sepulchre and Holy
Nativity at Jerusalem and Nazareth, re-
spectively. An increasing number OF young
Franciscan monks going from this
country to the Holy Land to serve at the
shrines there, the commissariat or the Holy
Land on Mount St. Sepulchre, near Wash
ington. showing steady increase in the
number OF candidates offering themselves
The latest inside reports from Rome en-
large the list of possible cardlnals TO %. pe
cOnsistory As for the date there is some
doubt still whether the consistory OF early
March or of June Will see these new nats
conferred, but indications point to the
earlier one. The newest name to be added
TO the list is that of Mgr. Serafini, arch.
bishop of Spoleto. He is a Benedictine, and
that great order, one Of the four principal
ones i'm the church. Is without a representa-
tive in the Sacred College. Usually eacn OF
the orders, as well as the great societies
like the Jesuits, has one member In tnt
college The new name from outside Of
Italy is that of the nuncio at Lisbon, Mgr
Aiuti From within the Curia the name o.
Mgr. Adami has come to the front he i
not more prominent than some Others, IL II
said unless his recent removal 10 apart
ments generally occupied by cardinal car
be said TO add to his prominence. Lates
information points TO hardly more thar
three, or possibly four. new men being non
ored. The list now includes the nuncios q
Vienna Madrid and Lisbon, the arch
bishops of Florence and Spoleto, and IRON
the Curia Mgrs. NoceIla, Pericola. Panici
Passedri and Adami.