The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1908-09-12
Remarkable Activity of the Present Time a
Reminder of the Sixth and Seventh ,
Centuries. n
Names of Bishops and Archbishops Who Are
Either Irish by Birth or
by Descent. y

1t is to the apostolic zeal of lrisl:
missionaries that not inconsiderable
nart of Central Europe is indebted for
the gift of faith, writes "X" in tn.
New York Freeman's Journal of
Sept. 5.
During the sixth and seventh cen.
turies-that period In which the
Church of Ireland was eminently pro-
life Of saints and scholars-:nany
Irishmen. distinguished for holiness
and learning. forsaking home and kim
dred. poured over to the Continent in
order to announce the Gospel tidngs
to peoples there given over to the
grossest errors of paganism. Their
labors were crowned with remarkable
success. In those countries which
knowledge of the true faith rapidly
spread, Christian communities were
formed, churches and schools erected,
monasterics founded, and suitable
ecclesiastical. administration estab .
lished. Those regions in Northern
Italy, Switzerland. Germany, France,
and Belgium which were evangelical
by missionaries from ireland still
cherish the memory of their early
apostles. and entertain an enduring
and grateful affection for the land
from which they came. Amongst the
Irish monks and missionaries special
ly venerated in numerous Continental
churches some of the most widely
known are St Columbanus, ST. Gall.
ST. Fridolin. st. Kilian. ST Liviries
ST Rumold. st. Foillan, st. Monon aud
and st. Forannan. In Belgium alone
some forty parish churches are dedi
Gated under the Invocation OF various
Irish saints who in the course of the
sixth and seventh centuries had Il
country.
In our own days Irish missionary
activity. though necessarily conducted
on other lines, is not less remarkable
nor less successful. The tide of emf
grafton which has flown uninterrupt
edly for the last sixty years. carrying
with it millions of the Irish race. has
not been without It's compensations.
Whilst the decrease in the population
at home has been proceeding at Il rate
which cannot but awaken the gravest
anxiety. there has been growing up be-
has been doing, and is actually doing.
q splendid work for religion. raising
in distant lands a Church destined by
it's numbers and it's fcrvor to repair
the losses which Cathoicity is suffer-
ing in the Old World. The founda-
tions of the fourishing Church of the
United States of America were laid
r,ainly by Irish cmigrants; at the
present day the great majority Of her
descent. The rising Church of Aus
tralia. where rapid expansion is paral-
lei to that of the Sister Church OF
America. is almost exclusively Irish III
It's membership; it's prelates and
priests are with very rare exceptions.
OF Irish birth or Irish origin. And it
looks as If the history Of Australia is
about to be repeated in South Africa.
Ireland must also be credited with no
small part in that development of Ca
tholicity in Great Britain which has
been witnessed during the last fifty
years or so-as might have been ex-
pected 1t is precisely in those districts
of England and Scotland in which.
Irishmen have settled down that the
progress Of the Church has been most
noteworthy.
To what extent Ireland is in evil
dence. enthusiastically, in all the Eng
lish- h-speaking countries may be gath
cred from the following list Of Arch
bishops and Bishops who are either
Irish by birth or Irish by descent. The