The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1903-12-18
AN ARCHBISHOP
ON THE CHINA
HARTY, MANILA'S
AMERICAN CATHOLIC ARCH
BISHOP, Is PASSING THROUGH.

Among the passengers on the China
are Archbishop j. J. Harry the Arch
bishop of Manila and head of the Cath
Ollie church in the Philippine Islands,
and his secretary Monsignor e. W.
Fowler. Archbishop Harty was born
in st. Louis and is fifty years of age, a
man of splendid physique ana charm
ing manners. He was ordained a priest
in 1878.
Early in June last he received ca
blegram from the Holy See announce
ing his appointment to the See of Ma
Mia. He went to Rome and was con-
secrated on August 18th. lie was the
last Bishop named by the late Pope,
Leo XIII, and the first to be confirmed
by the new Pope, PiuX y, by whom he
was presented with a beautifully chas-
ed pectoral cross, which he prizes high
ly.
Archbishop Harry, in speaking of his
new field of labor, said he had formed
no plans for the future conduct and
management of church affairs in the
islands. Although he has familiarized
himself in a measure with conditions
in the islands he said he had determin-
ed upon no plans except to do the work
which he will find when he reaches the
islands. He went on to explain, how
ever, that he would take a very decid-
ed interest in educational matters and
by the building up o. schools and col
leges in the islands hoped to accom-
plish great deal in the way OF the up
building of the people.
Il was glad to learn upon investiga-
ton" he said, that the people of the
Philippines, on the whole, are not UNI
educated There, as in very other Sec
ton of the world, you will find many
people who have been denied the OPP
portunity to obtain an education. We
have illiterate people in this country,
and in some sections-Tennessee for
instance-there is considerable popu-
lation of illiterate people. The per-
centage of illiteracy in the Philippines,
however, is quite small, and 1 hope to
see this condition greatly improved as
the years roll by"
Archbishop Harty had quite a little
to say about the friars and the friar
land question.
THE friars began work in the Phil
ippines $50 years ago." he said. "They
civilized the natives ana taught tn"n
a agriculture. During these $50 years
they received various grants of land
| from the Government, which lands
are separate and distinct from church
! property, the ownership resulting
| from their personal efforts i'm lines of
! industry apart from their church work.
! Whereas the church property in the ISL
ands, as in the United States, belongs
to the people of the respective parish
es, the title resting in the name of the
, several Bishops, and held by them for
the benefit of the parishioners, the
lands of the friars are the property of
the orders to which they belong, and
held for the Advancement of the COM
munity interest, which is an education
al one.
Now, if the friars choose to sell this
property and they are offered a salts,
factory price, they are at liberty to dc
so. They may dispose of their lands
precisely as a man sells realty in this
country. The acreage of the friar lands
in the Philippines is not as great as
some people suppose. There are indi-
viduals in California whose holdings OF
lands are as great as the entire hold
ings of all the friars in the Philippines
Their holdings approximate 1Oc, c0l
acres"
Archbishop Harry said that many
of the Spanish friars had left the isl
ands since they passed under Ameri
can control. He said that 400 friar:
have gone back to Spain and 800 NOR,
have gone to South America, leaving
about 400 in the entire Philippine ar
chipelago.
The other Americans who have beer
appointed bishops in the Philippine!
are Bishop ID. j. DOugherty, with res
idence at Vigan 200 miles from Mani
la; Bishop Rocker, with a diocesan sea
at Jaro, and Bishop Hendrick, with hi
diocesan seat at Cebu.